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Mounting worries have emerged about the potential of warfare involving East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a heated war of words.

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

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Border

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

However, in the country, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the ruler terminated this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was concluded – a move that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated again.