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Increasing apprehensions exist about the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the intention 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 secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

There have been few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.