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Increasing concerns are present regarding the possibility of armed conflict among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the military, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

Following World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor terminated this agreement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the war was finished – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.