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Growing concerns are present about the chance of armed conflict involving East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war started in which numerous people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the desire to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

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

The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Conflict

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

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

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

A extended internal conflict occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing hostilities in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a announcement that the war was concluded – a action that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

However diplomatic connections have since broken down again.