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Increasing worries are present about the possibility of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrea has triggered a intense verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

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

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

Eritrean authorities warned on recently that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

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

The director of human resources department of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Past Roots of the Dispute

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

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

But ties have later worsened anew.