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Mounting worries are present about the possibility of armed conflict involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the intention to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

In the face of persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

Currently, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

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

A thirty-year civil war occurred, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Although this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.