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Growing concerns have emerged over the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Roots of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down again.