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Increasing concerns are present about the chance of armed conflict involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the ruler cancelled this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite 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 disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was over – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down anew.