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Increasing apprehensions are present over the potential of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous civil war in Tigray.

Yet ties have later worsened anew.