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Increasing apprehensions have emerged about the possibility of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbors, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, requests for passage to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has sparked a fierce rhetorical conflict.

PM Abiy Ahmed previously announced in 2023 that his nation's sea access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a prolonged struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) sea border, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it without sea access.

Five years later, a border war broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Latest Remarks from Ethiopia's Leadership

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the frontier - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the sea as a because of Eritrea secession would be "rectified tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Claims

In the face of ongoing threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Communications Head the minister.

He has rejected Ethiopian requests for sea access describing it as "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "territorial claims" – a approach of retaking former lands.

The information ministry alerted on 16 September that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for Ethiopia and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

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

However, in Ethiopia, national TV has displayed completion events of many recruits at various military training camps.

The head of human resources department of the military, General Hachalu, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "numerous of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Past Background of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was governed by colonial powers.

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

Yet in 1962 the ruler ended this agreement and the region became completely integrated into the Ethiopian state.

A extended internal conflict occurred, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a plebiscite in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the leadership in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to hostilities in 1998.

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

This changed in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders signed a announcement that the conflict was concluded – a action that gained the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The both administrations were then cooperators in the country's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

But relations have since broken down anew.