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Mounting concerns are present over the possibility of armed conflict involving East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict erupted in which numerous people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Ground

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Tension

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

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

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two signed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated anew.