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Increasing worries are present over the potential of armed conflict between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that efforts to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a statement that the conflict was finished – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.