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Mounting concerns exist over the possibility of warfare between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which numerous people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

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

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Background of the Tension

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a announcement that the conflict was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous civil war in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down anew.