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Mounting apprehensions have emerged over the possibility of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which numerous people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the intention to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict ensued, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two signed a statement that the hostilities was over – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.