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Mounting apprehensions are present over the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

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

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. Following a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on X from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Region

There have been little evidence of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has displayed completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a move that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.