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Growing apprehensions exist over the potential of military engagement among East African countries, Ethiopia and the Eritrean government, as confrontational language has intensified in the last month.

What Did Ethiopian Officials Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a heated verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed first openly declared in 2023 that his country's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a decades-long battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it cut off from the sea.

In 1998, a military clash started in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have directly stated sovereignty of Eritrea's coastal city of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and suggested the wish to capture it through military means.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "corrected soon".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for sea access calling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "expansionism" – a approach of retaking previous domains.

Eritrean authorities alerted on mid-September that attempts to validate "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Activities on the Border

There have been little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the both nations.

However, in the country, government media has shown training completions of many recruits at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an interview that the army was in a "secure situation" as "many thousands of youths" were enlisting, which he said was "a signal to our adversaries".

Historical Background of the Tension

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

Following Italy's defeat, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year internal conflict occurred, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then confirmed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing conflict in 1998.

Even though this ended in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at in dispute.

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The both leaders agreed to a statement that the war was concluded – a move that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

Yet ties have since broken down again.