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Increasing apprehensions have emerged over the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of human resources department of the military, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was concluded – a action that earned Abiy the international recognition.

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

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.