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Growing concerns are present over the possibility of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his country's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

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

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler ended this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was finished – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous civil war in Tigray.

However ties have since broken down again.