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Growing concerns exist over the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was finished – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Yet ties have later worsened anew.