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Mounting worries exist over the possibility of armed conflict between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which numerous people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on social media from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

So far, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly 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 shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Although this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was over – a move that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

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

However relations have since broken down anew.