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Mounting concerns have emerged over the possibility of armed conflict among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Ground

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders signed a statement that the conflict was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet relations have later worsened anew.