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Increasing worries are present over the chance of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense war of words.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the both governments have often been tense. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a long sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict erupted in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed ownership of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "addressed soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Amid ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming lost territory.

The information ministry cautioned on 16 September that efforts 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 few indications of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Tension

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before turning into a federated part of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long armed struggle ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at odds.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two endorsed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a move that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The neighboring states were then partners in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have subsequently deteriorated anew.