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Mounting concerns are present over the chance of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "corrected tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry warned on recently that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in the northern region.

Yet ties have since broken down again.