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Mounting apprehensions are present about the chance of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his government's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that attempts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was finished – a decision that earned Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.