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Increasing apprehensions have emerged over the possibility of warfare involving Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was finished – a move that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However ties have since broken down anew.