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Mounting apprehensions are present regarding the chance of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Roots of the Conflict

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations remained at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was over – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.