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Mounting concerns have emerged about the possibility of armed conflict among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

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

A three-decade long civil war ensued, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then approved by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the war was finished – a move that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet ties have later worsened anew.