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Mounting worries are present about the possibility of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile language has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that attempts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Background of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

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

Yet in 1962 the ruler cancelled this system and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in the country's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.