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Increasing concerns exist about the potential of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and army chief the army commander have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that attempts to justify "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Border

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

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

The leader of staff section of the defense force, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Dispute

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

After Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the UK forces before becoming a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the ruler ended this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict followed, finishing with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by the population in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a statement that the war was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.