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Growing worries have emerged over the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

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

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people were killed.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Amid persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Border

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, the officer, stated recently in an conversation 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".

Historical Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was finished – a move that won Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down once more.