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Mounting apprehensions are present about the possibility of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a move that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

But relations have later worsened again.