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Mounting worries exist about the possibility of armed conflict between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on recently that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

Currently, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

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

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a announcement that the conflict was finished – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated again.