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Increasing apprehensions are present regarding the potential of armed conflict among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his country's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

There have been no reports of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations.

However, in the country, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Background of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict followed, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed 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 disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

But ties have since broken down once more.