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Growing apprehensions have emerged regarding the possibility of warfare among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

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

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash started in which numerous people lost their lives.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler terminated this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle ensued, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was concluded – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

Yet ties have later worsened again.