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Mounting worries have emerged regarding the chance of armed conflict among East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Conflict

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

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

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war occurred, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a statement that the war was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.