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Mounting worries have emerged over the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry warned on recently that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Border

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Background of the Conflict

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A thirty-year civil war occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a statement that the war was finished – a move that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

However ties have since broken down once more.