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Mounting concerns have emerged regarding the possibility of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Amid persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Tension

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that won Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous civil war in Tigray.

But relations have later worsened anew.