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Growing concerns are present about the potential of warfare involving East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which numerous people died.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

In the face of persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a statement that the war was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However relations have since broken down anew.