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Growing concerns are present regarding the potential of military engagement involving East African neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it without sea access.

In 1998, a territorial conflict erupted in which numerous people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea calling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that attempts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Border

There have been few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, stated recently in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A thirty-year civil war occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

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

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

However relations have since broken down anew.