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Growing apprehensions exist about the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

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

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Region

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders signed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a decision that won Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent civil war in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down again.