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Mounting apprehensions have emerged over the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

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

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people were killed.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on mid-September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Background of the Dispute

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

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

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

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a move that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened again.