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Growing apprehensions exist regarding the chance of military engagement involving East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Comments from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated ownership of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Region

There have been no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed completion events of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The head of staff section of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before turning into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a statement that the hostilities was finished – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet ties have later worsened again.