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Increasing apprehensions are present over the potential of armed conflict between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on recently that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

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

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war occurred, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

But relations have later worsened again.