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Increasing apprehensions are present over the chance of military engagement among Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to brief comments on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Region

There have been few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

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

The leader of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The two signed a declaration that the war was finished – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have later worsened again.