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Increasing concerns are present over the potential of military engagement between East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in the previous year that his country's access to the sea was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Ties between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, rendering it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted ownership of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

Despite ongoing challenges from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that attempts to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in the country, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The leader of personnel division of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Dispute

For over fifty years from the late 19th century, Eritrea was governed by Italian colonisers.

Following Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A extended armed struggle occurred, finishing with military reversal in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the two nations stayed at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two agreed to a announcement that the conflict was finished – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet relations have subsequently deteriorated once more.