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Increasing worries are present regarding the possibility of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the intention to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the military, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

But relations have later worsened anew.