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Growing concerns have emerged over the chance of warfare among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his nation's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people died.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the military, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

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

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a declaration that the war was over – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.