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Growing concerns are present regarding the potential of warfare involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

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

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Ground

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their common border, causing hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two signed a statement that the conflict was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.