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Increasing worries exist over the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that attempts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

There have been little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, state television has broadcast completion events of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

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

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders signed a statement that the war was over – a move that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.