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Growing apprehensions exist about the chance of warfare among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a prolonged battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

There have been no reports of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Tension

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

After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a statement that the conflict was over – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.