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Increasing concerns exist about the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

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

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on X from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.