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Increasing worries exist over the possibility of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a intense rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an crucial concern, statements that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a prolonged battle for independence, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

In 1998, a border war broke out in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopian Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have openly claimed ownership of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

Recently, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Statements

In the face of ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on X from Communications Head Yemane G..

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on recently that moves to validate "blatant hostility" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Region

Currently, there are no reports of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the military, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our opponents".

Past Roots of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then managed by the British military before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this arrangement and the region became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, finishing with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Independence was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, resulting in conflict in 1998.

Though this finished in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the both countries stayed at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders agreed to a announcement that the war was finished – a move that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

But diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.