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Mounting concerns have emerged regarding the possibility of military engagement among East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this agreement and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict ensued, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a declaration that the war was over – a decision that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.