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Mounting worries are present over the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a military clash started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in the country, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Tension

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

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet relations have later worsened again.