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Mounting concerns are present regarding the potential of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. Following a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people died.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and implied the desire to take it by force.

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

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in the country, national TV has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have later worsened again.