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Mounting worries exist regarding the possibility of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a military clash started in which numerous people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was over – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.