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Growing worries exist about the chance of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Dispute

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

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders signed a announcement that the war was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

However relations have since broken down again.