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Growing concerns have emerged over the chance of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Conflict

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

After World War II, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated again.