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Mounting concerns have emerged regarding the potential of armed conflict among East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his government's sea access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has shown training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was administered by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a statement that the conflict was over – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.