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Mounting concerns are present regarding the potential of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

However, in the country, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the military, the officer, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war occurred, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was concluded – a move that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.