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Mounting apprehensions have emerged about the potential of armed conflict among Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a border war started in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" 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 Ground

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has shown training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war ensued, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the conflict was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

However diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.