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Mounting worries have emerged about the possibility of armed conflict between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a announcement that the war was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's previous civil war in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.