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Increasing apprehensions have emerged regarding the possibility of military engagement involving East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrean independence would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

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

The head of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict ensued, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

However relations have later worsened again.