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Increasing concerns are present about the potential of armed conflict between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash broke out in which numerous people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Tension

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

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A extended armed struggle occurred, ending with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down once more.