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Increasing worries exist about the potential of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

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

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. Following a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and implied the intention to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry alerted on recently that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of human resources department of the military, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

However ties have since broken down once more.