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Growing worries have emerged regarding the possibility of military engagement between Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, the officer, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Conflict

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the conflict was over – a action that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's recent civil war in the northern region.

But relations have subsequently deteriorated again.