SLSUN: Somaliland authorities say their agreement to grant landlocked Ethiopia access to the sea in exchange for recognition remains intact despite Somalia and Ethiopia’s deal to end the feud it caused.
In January 2024, Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that stated Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as an independent nation in exchange for access to the Red Sea.
“The relationship between Somalia and Ethiopia, that is their business. We are minding our own business,” Somaliland’s special envoy to the African Union, Abdulahi Mohammud, told DW. “Any country that tries to interfere in our own internal affairs with regards to [the] case of Somalia vis a vis Ethiopia, that are two different issues that concerns the two countries, not us.”
Reduced tensions in Horn of Africa
Tensions had peaked in April with the expulsion of Ethiopia’s ambassador to Somalia and the exclusion of Ethiopian troops from an African Union peacekeeping force to Somalia
Ethiopia and Somalia’s leaders have worked on hammering outa compromise to end their nearly year-old bitter dispute in the Turkish capital of Ankara last week.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Ankara Declaration would ensure Ethiopia’s long-desired access to the sea. The two sides agreed to work together on commercial arrangements and bilateral agreements that would ensure Ethiopia access to the sea under Somalia’s sovereign authority
Technical talks are due to start in February 2025 and be completed within four months.
“The meaning of technical arrangement is to discuss how the agreement will be implemented,” Abdurahman Seid, London-based Horn of Africa political analyst, told DW. But the talks next year should settle the major differences between the two countries, Seid said.
“What we know is [Ethiopia’s] Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accepted the sovereignty of Somalia. The core thing is that the president of Somalia had set this as a precondition. [He] said that… the agreement with Somaliland does not respect the sovereignty of Somalia. And this [new deal] was accepted by the Ethiopian side.”
Read the full article HERE
