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Mounting concerns have emerged over the chance of armed conflict between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was finished – a action that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.