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Increasing concerns are present over the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

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

Defense Preparations on the Border

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war followed, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.