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Mounting worries are present over the chance of warfare between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on X from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict ensued, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a move that won Abiy the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.