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Growing apprehensions have emerged about the chance of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as hostile rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrea has sparked a fierce war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in last year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a military clash erupted in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the frontier - and implied the wish to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a approach of reclaiming previous domains.

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

Military Movements on the Border

Currently, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has broadcast completion events of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of staff section of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war followed, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then approved by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their shared boundary, leading to hostilities in 1998.

Though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders signed a announcement that the conflict was over – a decision that won the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's recent civil war in Tigray.

But ties have subsequently deteriorated again.