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Growing apprehensions exist regarding the possibility of armed conflict involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview 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".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a move that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.