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Growing apprehensions exist about the chance of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war followed, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent civil war in Tigray.

However relations have later worsened anew.