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Increasing worries are present regarding the chance of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and implied the wish to seize it militarily.

In early September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

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

However, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

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

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the conflict was over – a move that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous armed struggle in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.