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Increasing worries have emerged regarding the possibility of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which numerous people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on X from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

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

The director of human resources department of the military, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the conflict was over – a decision that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

However ties have since broken down anew.