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Increasing concerns are present over the chance of armed conflict between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

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

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

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

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

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

Defense Activities on the Ground

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

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

After World War II, it was then administered by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet ties have since broken down anew.