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Increasing worries are present about the chance of warfare among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry warned on recently that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

There have been few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

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

Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily 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.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a action that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.