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Growing worries exist over the potential of armed conflict involving East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the intention to take it by force.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of youths" were entering service, 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 Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries remained at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was finished – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down again.