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Increasing worries are present regarding the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle followed, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated anew.