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Increasing worries exist regarding the potential of warfare between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

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

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on social media from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Past Background of the Conflict

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

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

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

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was over – a move that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.