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Growing apprehensions are present regarding the chance of armed conflict between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Dispute

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

Following World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence 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 Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet relations have since broken down once more.