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Growing apprehensions are present about the potential of military engagement between Horn of Africa neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as hostile discourse has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrea has provoked a intense war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in 2023 that his country's sea access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea dismissed.

Diplomatic connections between the two countries have frequently been strained. After a long-standing battle for independence, the Eritrean state, which has a long Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which more than 100,000 people died.

Latest Statements from Ethiopia's Government

Abiy and military leader the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean southern port of the port of Assab – about 60km from the boundary - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "blunder" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected in the future".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrean Reaction to the Statements

Despite ongoing threats from Ethiopia, Asmara's position has been restricted to brief comments on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "territorial claims" – a policy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry alerted on recently that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "boundary that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Border

So far, there are few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the neighboring states.

However, in the country, government media has shown completion events of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, General Hachalu, commented lately in an conversation that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of young people" were joining it, which he said was "a warning to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, Eritrea was administered by colonial powers.

After Italy's defeat, it was then managed by the British administration before turning into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

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

A extended armed struggle ensued, ending with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then endorsed by the population in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they disagreed over the precise positioning of their common border, causing war in 1998.

Though this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the neighbors remained at in dispute.

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made approaches to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was over – a decision that gained Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

The two governments were then allies in the country's recent internal conflict in the northern region.

However ties have since broken down again.