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Increasing apprehensions exist about the chance of military engagement between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

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

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an crucial concern, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Recent Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the intention to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Reaction to the Threats

Despite continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Ground

There have been no reports of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The head of human resources department of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Background of the Tension

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

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

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

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Although this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the conflict was concluded – a action that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's previous internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet ties have since broken down anew.