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Growing apprehensions exist regarding the chance of warfare among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

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

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

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

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a announcement that the conflict was over – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down again.