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Mounting worries are present over the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For decades from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

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

A extended armed struggle occurred, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the hostilities was concluded – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's recent civil war in Tigray.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.