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Increasing worries exist over the potential of military engagement involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming former lands.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has shown training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Even though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a declaration that the war was concluded – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's recent civil war in the northern region.

Yet ties have later worsened again.