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Increasing concerns have emerged regarding the possibility of armed conflict among East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

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

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Tension

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

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war occurred, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was concluded – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.