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Growing apprehensions have emerged regarding the chance of military engagement among Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopian rule in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

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

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to short statements on social media from Communications Head the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry describing it as "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a policy of retaking previous domains.

Government spokespeople cautioned 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".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has broadcast completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The director of human resources department of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our opponents".

Historical Roots of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was governed by Italian rulers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year civil war ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two agreed to a declaration that the war was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet ties have later worsened anew.