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Mounting concerns exist about the possibility of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile language has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on recently that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Tension

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

After World War II, it was then controlled by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this arrangement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war followed, ending with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

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

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a move that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

Yet relations have since broken down anew.