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Growing worries have emerged regarding the potential of military engagement between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in 2023 that his government's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash started in which more than 100,000 people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have openly claimed control of Eritrean southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the desire to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be given back "through military action".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on social media from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of claiming back former lands.

Eritrean authorities warned on mid-September that attempts to validate "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, government media has shown graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the military, the officer, stated recently in an interview that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "tens of thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Tension

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

Following World War II, it was then managed by the UK forces before becoming a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor cancelled this arrangement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, finishing with military reversal in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by voters in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the exact location of their mutual frontier, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a announcement that the war was over – a move that earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

However ties have later worsened anew.