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Growing apprehensions have emerged over the potential of armed conflict among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

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

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the wish to capture it through military means.

In early 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 tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry warned on recently that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was over – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

But ties have subsequently deteriorated anew.