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Increasing worries exist over the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the desire to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

There have been little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

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

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the hostilities was over – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

However relations have later worsened once more.