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Growing apprehensions exist about the possibility of military engagement among East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the sea coast through Eritrea has sparked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his government's sea access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Relations between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

In the face of continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to short statements on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on recently that moves to justify "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Preparations on the Region

Currently, there are little evidence of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has shown graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an discussion that the military was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Previous Background of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

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

But in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle ensued, concluding with military reversal in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders agreed to a declaration that the conflict was finished – a decision that won the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

But relations have later worsened again.