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Mounting apprehensions have emerged regarding the potential of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in last year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on mid-September that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, ending with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning 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 continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.