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Mounting worries exist over the potential of armed conflict among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

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

However, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was over – a action that earned Abiy the international recognition.

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

Yet relations have later worsened again.