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Growing concerns are present over the possibility of military engagement among East African neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as confrontational rhetoric has escalated in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopia Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrean territory has provoked a intense rhetorical conflict.

The Ethiopian leader first openly declared in last year that his country's sea access was an vital issue, comments that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the both governments have often been tense. After a long-standing struggle for freedom, Eritrea, which has a long Red Sea coastline, legally broke away from Ethiopian rule in 1993, making it landlocked.

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

Latest Comments from Ethiopia's Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief the army commander have openly claimed control of Eritrean coastal city of the port of Assab – some 60 km from the frontier - and implied the intention to take it by force.

On 1 September, Abiy said the country's "mistake" of losing access to the Red Sea as a result of Eritrean independence would be "corrected tomorrow".

The Ethiopian envoy to Kenya, retired Gen Bacha Debele, said that Assab was "Ethiopian property" and would be restored "using武力".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Despite continuous threats from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been confined to concise remarks on social media from Information Minister Yemane G..

Officials have denied Ethiopian requests for maritime entry describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a policy of retaking former lands.

The information ministry alerted on mid-September that efforts to justify "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbouring countries and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Ground

Currently, there are no reports of large-scale army activities in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, government media has shown graduation ceremonies of many recruits at different defense facilities.

The director of staff section of the military, Lt Gen Hachalu Sheleme, commented lately in an interview that the defense forces was in a "reliable position" as "many thousands of recruits" were enlisting, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Background of the Conflict

For over fifty years from 1890, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then controlled by the British military before evolving into a associated territory of the Ethiopian empire.

But in 1962 Emperor Haile Selassie I ended this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into the Ethiopian state.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, ending with the government's loss in 1991. Sovereignty was then approved by voters in a referendum in 1993.

Briefly in the 1990s, there were positive ties between the leadership in Ethiopia's capital and Asmara, but they fell out over the exact location of their mutual frontier, causing conflict in 1998.

Although this finished in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was never fully implemented, and the both countries stayed at odds.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made gestures to Eritrean President the president. The two signed a declaration that the conflict was concluded – a decision that gained the Prime Minister the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then partners in Ethiopia's recent armed struggle in the northern region.

But ties have subsequently deteriorated once more.