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Mounting apprehensions exist regarding the potential of armed conflict involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which numerous people died.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that attempts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has broadcast training completions of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the military, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the war was concluded – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's previous civil war in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down again.