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Growing apprehensions exist about the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have often been tense. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry warned on recently that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, national TV has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a decision that won Abiy the international recognition.

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

However ties have later worsened again.