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Growing worries exist regarding the possibility of armed conflict among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which numerous people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested 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 result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

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

Security Activities on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

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

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.