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Increasing apprehensions exist regarding the potential of warfare between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Tension

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

Following World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the ruler cancelled this system and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war ensued, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

But ties have subsequently deteriorated anew.