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Growing concerns exist regarding the potential of military engagement among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive discourse has escalated in recent weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in the previous year that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, remarks that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Diplomatic connections between the neighboring nations have frequently been strained. After a long-standing fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war started in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopia's Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the boundary - and hinted at the intention to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "error" of being denied passage to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "addressed tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "using武力".

Eritrean Response to the Statements

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of claiming back previous domains.

Government spokespeople alerted on 16 September that moves to validate "obvious provocation" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

Currently, there are few indications of significant troop deployments in the boundary zones between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown completion events of thousands of cadets at different defense facilities.

The director of personnel division of the defense force, the officer, commented lately in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Previous Roots of the Tension

For decades from 1890, the territory was governed by colonial powers.

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

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this agreement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict occurred, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Autonomy was then endorsed by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Briefly 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.

Although this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the neighbors continued at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the conflict was over – a action that earned the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's previous internal conflict in the northern region.

But ties have subsequently deteriorated again.