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Growing worries exist over the possibility of armed conflict involving East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war occurred, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a announcement that the hostilities was concluded – a action that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down again.