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Growing apprehensions have emerged regarding the chance of military engagement between East African neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has triggered a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

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

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Border

There have been no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

However, in the country, state television has shown completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of staff section of the armed forces, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the hostilities was finished – a action that earned Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have since broken down again.