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Increasing worries have emerged about the chance of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

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

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Dispute

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

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler ended this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998.

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

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was concluded – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However ties have since broken down again.