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Increasing concerns are present regarding the chance of armed conflict among Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

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

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

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

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at in dispute.

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

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.