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Growing apprehensions exist regarding the possibility of military engagement between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive rhetoric has ratcheted up in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has provoked a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war started in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Recent Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief the army commander have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

In the face of ongoing challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister the minister.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopian requests for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry alerted on recently that moves to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Region

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, state television has broadcast training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of personnel division of the military, 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 warning to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Conflict

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

Following World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before turning into a associated territory of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended civil war occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their common border, resulting in war in 1998.

Though this ended in a truce in 2000, it was partially applied, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This situation improved in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrea's leader Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a declaration that the conflict was finished – a action that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.