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Growing concerns have emerged over the chance of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Government

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

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has displayed completion events of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a statement that the conflict was concluded – a move that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.