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Mounting worries exist about the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which numerous people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

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

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

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

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

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

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was finished – a move that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However ties have since broken down again.