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Mounting apprehensions have emerged about the potential of military engagement among East African neighbours, Ethiopia and Eritrea, as aggressive language has ratcheted up in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Said?

Ethiopia's, being landlocked, demands for passage to the Red Sea through Eritrea has triggered a heated war of words.

The Ethiopian leader previously announced in last year that his nation's access to the sea was an vital issue, statements that Eritrean authorities dismissed.

Relations between the two countries have often been tense. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, Eritrea, which has a long maritime frontage, formally separated from Ethiopian rule in 1993, rendering it without sea access.

Subsequently, a territorial conflict broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Latest Comments from Ethiopian Leadership

Prime Minister Abiy and military leader the army commander have publicly asserted sovereignty of Eritrea's maritime facility of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and hinted at the wish to capture it through military means.

In early September, Abiy said Ethiopia's "blunder" of being denied passage to the sea as a due to Eritrea's separation would be "corrected soon".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "belonging to Ethiopia" and would be restored "through military action".

Eritrea's Response to the Claims

Amid persistent threats from Ethiopian officials, Eritrea's response has been restricted to concise remarks on online platforms from Information Minister the minister.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's push for sea access calling it "hazardous" and a "negative policy" of "territorial claims" – a policy of reclaiming former lands.

Government spokespeople cautioned on mid-September that efforts to validate "obvious provocation" would have major implications for the Ethiopian government and its regional partners and is a "limit that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Defense Preparations on the Ground

So far, there are little evidence of large-scale army activities in the boundary zones between the neighboring states.

Nonetheless, in Ethiopia, state television has shown training completions of numerous trainees at multiple army bases.

The director of staff section of the armed forces, General Hachalu, recently said in an conversation that the army was in a "strong stance" as "many thousands of recruits" were joining it, which he said was "a message to our enemies".

Past Roots of the Tension

For decades from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

After World War II, it was then administered by the British military before becoming a associated territory of Ethiopia.

But in 1962 the ruler cancelled this agreement and Eritrea became totally absorbed into Ethiopia.

A extended internal conflict followed, concluding with military reversal in 1991. Independence was then endorsed by Eritreans in a vote in 1993.

Temporarily in the 1990s, there were good relations between the governments in Ethiopia's capital and Eritrea's capital, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their mutual frontier, leading to war in 1998.

Though this concluded in a peace deal in 2000, it was incompletely executed, and the two nations remained at loggerheads.

This changed in 2018, when Abiy made gestures to Eritrean President President Isaias. The both leaders endorsed a announcement that the war was over – a move that gained the Prime Minister the Nobel Peace Prize.

The both administrations were then allies in the country's recent armed struggle in Tigray.

But ties have later worsened again.