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Increasing concerns exist about the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Amid continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

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

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two agreed to a statement that the war was finished – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet ties have since broken down anew.