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Mounting concerns exist over the chance of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Despite persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to brief comments on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

There have been little evidence of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

However, in the country, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the military, the officer, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war occurred, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, leading to hostilities in 1998.

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

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that won Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down again.