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Mounting worries exist over the potential of warfare involving East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and implied the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

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

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on recently that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

There have been no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's recent civil war in Tigray.

However relations have later worsened anew.