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Growing worries have emerged about the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

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

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the intention to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Despite persistent threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Roots of the Conflict

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet ties have subsequently deteriorated anew.