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Mounting concerns have emerged regarding the potential of military engagement among East African countries, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has escalated in the last month.

What Did Ethiopia Said?

Landlocked Ethiopia's requests for access to the maritime outlet through Eritrea has triggered a heated rhetorical conflict.

Ethiopian Prime Minister initially stated publicly in last year that his nation's sea access was an existential matter, statements that Eritrea rejected.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. Following a decades-long fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a extensive sea border, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it cut off from the sea.

Five years later, a territorial conflict started in which numerous people died.

Current Statements from Ethiopian Leadership

Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean maritime facility of Assab – some 60 km from the boundary - and suggested the desire to take it by force.

Recently, Abiy said Ethiopia's "mistake" of losing entry to the sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected tomorrow".

Ethiopia's ambassador to neighboring Kenya, ex-military officer Bacha, said that Assab was "Ethiopia's wealth" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Answer to the Threats

Amid ongoing warnings from Ethiopia, Eritrea's reaction has been confined to brief comments on X from Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel.

He has rejected Ethiopia's demand for maritime entry calling it "risky" and a "toxic agenda" of "irredentism" – a policy of claiming back lost territory.

The information ministry warned on recently that moves to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Preparations on the Ground

There have been few indications of significant troop deployments in the border areas between the both nations.

However, in Ethiopia, government media has displayed graduation ceremonies of thousands of cadets at various military training camps.

The director of personnel division of the military, General Hachalu, stated recently in an discussion that the defense forces was in a "secure situation" as "numerous of recruits" were entering service, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Origins of the Tension

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

After the end of Italian rule, it was then managed by the British administration before becoming a federated part of Ethiopia.

Yet in 1962 the ruler terminated this system and the region became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

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

For a few years in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Addis Ababa and Eritrea's capital, but they disagreed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, resulting in conflict in 1998.

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

This ended in 2018, when Abiy made overtures to Eritrea's leader the president. The two endorsed a declaration that the war was over – a action that earned Abiy the international recognition.

The both administrations were then allies in Ethiopia's recent internal conflict in Tigray.

Yet ties have later worsened again.