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Mounting apprehensions are present over the possibility of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

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

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that moves to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

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

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, ending with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a announcement that the war was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

However relations have since broken down anew.