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Increasing concerns exist about the possibility of warfare involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

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

Security Movements on the Ground

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

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

The head of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Dispute

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

After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

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

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, 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 signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet ties have later worsened anew.