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Mounting worries exist over the chance of military engagement between East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational discourse has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a heated rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Ground

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

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler terminated this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the war was concluded – a action that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated once more.