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Mounting concerns have emerged about the chance of military engagement among Horn of Africa countries, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in the previous year that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a decades-long battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a border war erupted in which numerous people died.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

Amid continuous threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for access to the Red Sea labeling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a strategy of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on 16 September that attempts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

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

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has broadcast training completions of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of staff section of the defense force, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the military was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from 1890, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the UK forces before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this system and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, ending with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then confirmed by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the precise positioning of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two signed a announcement that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then partners in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

However diplomatic connections have subsequently deteriorated anew.