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Growing concerns exist over the possibility of warfare among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was finished – a action that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous civil war in the northern region.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.