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Increasing apprehensions have emerged about the chance of warfare among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his country's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have often been tense. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, national TV has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was administered by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the ruler cancelled this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated again.