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Increasing concerns exist regarding the possibility of warfare involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Tension

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was concluded – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have later worsened again.