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Mounting worries are present regarding the possibility of military engagement between East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as aggressive language has escalated in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's calls for entry to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister first openly declared in 2023 that his government's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. After a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopia's Officials

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – about 60km from the border - and suggested the wish to take it by force.

Recently, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "addressed soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Statements

Despite continuous warnings from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access describing it as "dangerous" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a strategy of retaking former lands.

Government spokespeople warned on 16 September that moves to legitimise "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Ground

There have been no reports of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in the country, state television has shown graduation ceremonies of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of young people" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, Eritrea was governed by Italian rulers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British military before evolving into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

But in the early 1960s the ruler cancelled this agreement and the region became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended armed struggle followed, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their shared boundary, causing hostilities in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors stayed at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader President Isaias. The two signed a statement that the hostilities was concluded – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

However ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.