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Increasing concerns are present over the chance of armed conflict among East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected 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".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, state television has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an interview that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict followed, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was finished – a action that won Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But relations have since broken down once more.