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Increasing apprehensions exist regarding the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

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

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Dispute

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

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, ending with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a move that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's previous civil war in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.