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Growing worries exist about the possibility of warfare involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

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

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the wish to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking lost territory.

Government spokespeople alerted on recently that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, government media has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, concluding with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a statement that the war was finished – a action that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down again.