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Mounting apprehensions are present over the possibility of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile discourse has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his nation's maritime access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

Five years later, a military clash started in which numerous people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the desire to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Threats

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, national TV has displayed training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was administered by Italian colonisers.

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

However in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war ensued, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.