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Growing worries exist over the possibility of military engagement involving East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Amid persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has shown training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the war was concluded – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However relations have since broken down once more.