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Increasing apprehensions are present regarding the potential of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on 16 September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" 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 Border

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, state television has displayed completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

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

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.