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Growing worries exist regarding the chance of warfare involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

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

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

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

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.