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Mounting worries exist over the potential of armed conflict between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry warned on recently that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations.

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

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998.

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

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a statement that the war was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But relations have later worsened again.