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Growing apprehensions are present over the possibility of military engagement among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

In 1998, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

There have been few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The head of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British administration before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the ruler terminated this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a action that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's recent civil war in the northern region.

But ties have subsequently deteriorated again.