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Mounting worries exist regarding the potential of military engagement between East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has intensified in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Declared?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the Red Sea through Eritrea has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his government's access to the sea was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrea ignored.

Ties between the both governments have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, making it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which numerous people lost their lives.

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the border - and implied the intention to seize it militarily.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said Ethiopia's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrea's separation would be "rectified tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be given back "using武力".

Eritrean Answer to the Statements

In the face of continuous challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been confined to short statements on social media from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

The minister has dismissed Ethiopia's push for sea access labeling it "dangerous" and a "toxic agenda" of "expansionism" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Activities on the Region

There have been few indications of large-scale army activities in the frontier regions between the both nations.

Nevertheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown completion events of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The leader of human resources department of the armed forces, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, recently said in an conversation that the military was in a "strong stance" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a warning to our adversaries".

Past Origins of the Conflict

For more than half a century from 1890, Eritrea was ruled by Italian rulers.

Following World War II, it was then administered by the British military before turning into a federated part of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this system and the region became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a vote in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they fell out over the specific demarcation of their common border, leading to war in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at odds.

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

The two governments were then cooperators in the country's previous armed struggle in Tigray.

Yet diplomatic connections have since broken down anew.