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Growing concerns are present over the potential of armed conflict among East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities warned on recently that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has shown completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that won Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down once more.