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Growing concerns exist about the potential of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which numerous people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on recently that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Roots of the Dispute

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the hostilities was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened again.