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Mounting worries exist about the potential of military engagement involving Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and Eritrea, as aggressive language has escalated in the past few weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrean territory has sparked a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's access to the sea was an existential matter, comments that Eritrea rejected.

Ties between the neighboring nations have often been tense. Following a long-standing struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a extensive maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in the early 1990s, making it landlocked.

Five years later, a military clash broke out in which numerous people were killed.

Recent Comments from Ethiopia's Officials

Abiy and army chief Field Marshal Birhanu Jula have directly stated ownership of Eritrean coastal city of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and suggested the intention to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to neighboring Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be given back "by force".

Eritrean Response to the Threats

Amid persistent warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been limited to short statements on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for sea access labeling it "risky" and a "harmful plan" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry warned on recently that moves to legitimise "blatant hostility" would have serious consequences for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Activities on the Region

So far, there are few indications of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries.

Nevertheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The head of staff section of the military, the officer, commented lately in an discussion that the army was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Dispute

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by colonial powers.

After the end of Italian rule, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a integrated region of Ethiopia.

However in the early 1960s Emperor Haile Selassie I terminated this agreement and the region became completely integrated into Ethiopia.

A three-decade long civil war occurred, concluding with Ethiopia's defeat in the early 1990s. Independence was then approved by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the authorities in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this concluded in a truce in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made overtures to Eritrean President the president. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the hostilities was over – a decision that earned the Prime Minister the prestigious award.

The two governments were then partners in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in the northern region.

Yet diplomatic connections have later worsened anew.