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Mounting worries have emerged about the chance of military engagement involving Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

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

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

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the border - and implied the wish to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople alerted on recently that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has broadcast graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Independence was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a action that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet relations have subsequently deteriorated again.