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Growing worries have emerged over the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a border war erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

Currently, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, government media has displayed completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war ensued, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

But ties have later worsened again.