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Increasing concerns have emerged about the possibility of military engagement between Horn of Africa countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as hostile language has ratcheted up in the last month.

What Has Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for access to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has triggered a fierce verbal exchange.

Ethiopian Prime Minister previously announced in the previous year that his country's maritime access was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Ties between the both governments have frequently been strained. After a decades-long struggle for freedom, the Eritrean state, which has a long maritime frontage, officially seceded from Ethiopia in 1993, rendering it landlocked.

Subsequently, a border war erupted in which numerous people died.

Current Remarks from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and military leader General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's southern port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the wish to take it by force.

On 1 September, the Prime Minister said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrean independence would be "rectified tomorrow".

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

Eritrea's Answer to the Claims

Despite persistent challenges from Ethiopian officials, Asmara's position has been restricted to concise remarks on X from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry describing it as "hazardous" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a approach of retaking lost territory.

The information ministry warned on mid-September that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have serious consequences for Ethiopia and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Security Movements on the Ground

So far, there are no reports of major military movements in the boundary zones between the two countries.

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

The leader of personnel division of the defense force, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, stated recently in an discussion that the army was in a "reliable position" as "tens of thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our adversaries".

Historical Origins of the Dispute

For decades from 1890, the territory was administered by colonial powers.

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

Yet in the early 1960s the ruler ended this arrangement and Eritrea became fully incorporated into the Ethiopian state.

A three-decade long internal conflict ensued, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Sovereignty was then endorsed by Eritreans in a referendum in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the authorities in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, resulting in hostilities in 1998.

Even though this ended in a peace deal in 2000, it was partially applied, and the two nations continued at odds.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The both leaders endorsed a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a decision that won Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.

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

But diplomatic connections have since broken down once more.