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Mounting concerns exist over the potential of military engagement between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce war of words.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash broke out in which numerous people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

Amid ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming previous domains.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors stayed at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

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

But relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.