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Increasing apprehensions have emerged regarding the possibility of warfare between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

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

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Despite persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

There have been few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has broadcast training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Conflict

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.