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Increasing apprehensions are present over the potential of armed conflict between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing entry 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 "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

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

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two signed a announcement that the war was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.