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Mounting apprehensions exist regarding the possibility of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

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

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

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

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Tension

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

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the ruler cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that earned Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened again.