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Increasing worries have emerged over the possibility of armed conflict between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the two countries have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities warned on recently that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict ensued, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

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

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the hostilities was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet relations have later worsened anew.