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Growing worries exist about the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his country's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Background of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor terminated this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous civil war in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down anew.