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Mounting apprehensions are present regarding the potential of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the desire to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle occurred, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the hostilities was over – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's recent civil war in the northern region.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.