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Growing worries are present over the possibility of military engagement among East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the desire to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the boundary zones between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian rulers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then administered by the UK forces before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor terminated this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the war was over – a action that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

However ties have later worsened once more.