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Increasing worries are present over the potential of military engagement between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his country's access to the sea was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a border war broke out in which numerous people died.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and suggested the desire to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a because of Eritrea's separation would be "corrected in the future".

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

Eritrean Answer to the Claims

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been restricted to brief comments on X from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea calling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of reclaiming lost territory.

Eritrean authorities warned on 16 September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed training completions of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

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

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

But in 1962 the ruler ended this system and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war ensued, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a declaration that the conflict was finished – a move that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then allies in the country's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

However ties have later worsened again.