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Mounting worries have emerged over the possibility of armed conflict involving East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

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

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on mid-September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head 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 young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler ended this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a move that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.