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Mounting apprehensions are present about the chance of warfare involving East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has shown training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle occurred, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a statement that the conflict was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated again.