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Growing concerns have emerged over the possibility of warfare among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

There have been little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the conflict was finished – a action that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened again.