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Growing worries have emerged regarding the possibility of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has provoked a fierce war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which numerous people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested 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 due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Threats

In the face of persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Origins of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by colonial powers.

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

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year civil war followed, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Although this finished in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two agreed to a announcement that the hostilities was finished – a move that earned the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The both administrations were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated again.