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Growing concerns are present regarding the chance of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Ground

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war followed, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

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

However relations have later worsened once more.