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Mounting concerns exist regarding the possibility of armed conflict between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which numerous people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

There have been no reports of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.