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Mounting worries are present over the possibility of military engagement between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a heated war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in 2023 that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities cautioned on recently that efforts to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast training completions of many recruits at various military training camps.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

But in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war followed, ending with military reversal in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Although this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at odds.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was concluded – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

However ties have since broken down once more.