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Mounting worries have emerged about the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately 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 signal to our adversaries".

Past Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

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

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a announcement that the war was over – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then allies in the country's recent civil war in Tigray.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated again.