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Growing worries exist about the potential of armed conflict involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections 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) sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash broke out in which numerous people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Tension

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a announcement that the hostilities was over – a action that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

But relations have since broken down again.