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Growing apprehensions have emerged about the possibility of warfare between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Tension

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

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict ensued, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet relations have since broken down once more.