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Mounting worries have emerged about the possibility of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on X from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople cautioned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Background of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the war was over – a action that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.