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Increasing worries exist regarding the possibility of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's sea access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash erupted in which numerous people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the desire to capture it through military means.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

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

Eritrean Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that attempts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, state television has shown training completions of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian colonisers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle ensued, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by voters in a vote 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 fell out over the precise positioning of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the hostilities was concluded – a move that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet ties have subsequently deteriorated anew.