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Mounting concerns are present regarding the potential of military engagement between Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on recently that moves to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was over – a move that won Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated again.