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Growing worries exist over the chance of military engagement among East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in last year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have often been tense. After a decades-long fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

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

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities warned on recently that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A extended civil war ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the war was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.