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Increasing worries are present about the potential of military engagement among East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Claims

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands 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 colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two agreed to a announcement that the hostilities was finished – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's previous civil war in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.