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Increasing apprehensions have emerged about the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Dispute

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a statement that the conflict was finished – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

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

Yet ties have since broken down anew.