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Increasing concerns have emerged about the possibility of warfare involving East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war started in which numerous people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a action that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have later worsened anew.