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Mounting concerns exist over the possibility of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

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

The head of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately 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 opponents".

Past Roots of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war occurred, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by the population in a vote in 1993.

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

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a statement that the conflict was finished – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have since broken down again.