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Mounting concerns have emerged about the potential of armed conflict among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which numerous people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

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

Military Movements on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the military, the officer, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle followed, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a statement that the conflict was finished – a move that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.