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Increasing concerns exist about the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which numerous people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on recently that attempts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has broadcast training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

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

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a move that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's recent civil war in the northern region.

But relations have later worsened once more.