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Increasing concerns exist about the potential of military engagement between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Claims

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has shown completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle occurred, ending with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then approved by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

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

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that won the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet relations have later worsened once more.