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Growing concerns are present about the chance of warfare among Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his government's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have often been tense. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war started in which numerous people were killed.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Region

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was finished – a decision that won Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.