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Increasing worries are present about the chance of military engagement between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his government's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

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

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the wish to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on recently that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our opponents".

Historical Background of the Tension

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

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Although this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that won Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.