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Increasing worries are present over the potential of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which numerous people were killed.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet relations have since broken down again.