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Increasing apprehensions exist over the possibility of military engagement between East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for entry to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a intense war of words.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. Following a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it landlocked.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict started in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and suggested the intention to seize it militarily.

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

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to concise remarks on X from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "expansionism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that efforts to justify "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the two countries.

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

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Roots of the Dispute

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

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict followed, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a referendum in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, causing conflict in 1998.

Though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries remained at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The two signed a announcement that the conflict was over – a action that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

Yet relations have since broken down anew.