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Increasing worries are present about the potential of warfare among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Despite persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, government media has displayed completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the hostilities was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

However relations have later worsened anew.