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Growing apprehensions are present over the possibility of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

The information ministry alerted on recently that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle ensued, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.