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Growing worries are present regarding the possibility of military engagement involving East African neighbors, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

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

Current Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the desire to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "error" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to short statements on social media from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking previous domains.

The information ministry warned on 16 September that efforts to justify "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Movements on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the frontier regions between the two countries.

However, in the country, state television has broadcast training completions of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The head of staff section of the military, the officer, recently said in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of young people" were enlisting, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Background of the Dispute

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, Eritrea was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British administration before turning into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war followed, ending with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then confirmed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that gained Abiy the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet relations have later worsened again.