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Growing concerns exist about the possibility of warfare involving Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

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

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

Currently, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, national TV has shown training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the hostilities was finished – a move that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.