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Mounting apprehensions are present regarding the possibility of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Region

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders signed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a action that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet ties have since broken down once more.