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Growing worries are present regarding the chance of armed conflict between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the intention to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

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

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Conflict

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

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

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, leading to conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the conflict was over – a move that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.