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Growing apprehensions exist about the chance of military engagement between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, calls for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in last year that his government's sea access was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities ignored.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, officially seceded from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, leaving it without sea access.

Five years later, a military clash erupted in which more than 100,000 people lost their lives.

Recent Remarks from Ethiopian Government

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the wish to capture it through military means.

Recently, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing access to the sea as a result of Eritrea secession would be "addressed in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be returned "through military action".

Eritrea's Reaction to the Statements

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to brief comments on online platforms from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for access to the Red Sea describing it as "dangerous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking former lands.

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

Military Movements on the Region

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the frontier regions between the two countries.

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

The head of staff section of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was administered by Italian rulers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

However in the early 1960s the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and Eritrea became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long civil war followed, ending with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by voters in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The two agreed to a declaration that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 armed struggle in Tigray.

However relations have since broken down anew.