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Increasing concerns are present over the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Amid persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Border

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

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict ensued, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a announcement that the war was finished – a action that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Yet relations have since broken down anew.