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Growing worries are present about the possibility of military engagement between East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his government's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

Currently, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of human resources department of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an discussion that the military was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British administration before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite 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 precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have later worsened once more.