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Mounting worries are present about the possibility of warfare among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on X from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on recently that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Region

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

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

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

However relations have later worsened anew.