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Growing worries are present regarding the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the military, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict occurred, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

But ties have since broken down once more.