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Increasing apprehensions have emerged about the possibility of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the desire to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

In the face of persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the war was over – a move that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous civil war in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down again.