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Growing concerns exist over the possibility of armed conflict among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

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

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited 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 "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Tension

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

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a statement that the war was finished – a move that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

But relations have since broken down once more.