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Mounting apprehensions are present regarding the potential of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and implied the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a declaration that the war was concluded – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

But relations have later worsened again.