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Mounting worries are present over the potential of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the wish to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that efforts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the ruler terminated this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the conflict was over – a move that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down again.