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Growing concerns are present over the chance of warfare between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and implied the wish to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

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

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry warned on recently that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was over – 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.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.