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Mounting concerns have emerged about the possibility of military engagement among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a military clash started in which numerous people were killed.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the military, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a declaration that the war was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down again.