Africa|The landlocked country of Ethiopia is desperate for access to the seashore. In return, it has promised to recognize Somaliland as an independent state, which threatens to shake up the region’s already unstable situation.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
In the Horn of Africa, tensions have increased due to the preliminary agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland.
The agreement would allow the landlocked country of Ethiopia to lease an area off the coast of Somaliland. In return, Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as the first state in the world.
Somalia calls the agreement an attack on its sovereignty and threatens countermeasures.
Egypt supports Somalia and has provided military aid, increasing the risk of conflict.
of Africa in Sarve, tensions have intensified in a situation that is feared to escalate into a conflict that reaches beyond the region at worst.
The news agency Reuters and The Economist magazine.
The situation goes back to the preliminary work done by Ethiopia and Somaliland in the new year to the agreement. It would allow landlocked Ethiopia to lease an area off Somaliland’s coast in the Gulf of Aden for a possible port and naval base.
In return, Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as an independent state, the first in the world. The exact details of the agreement are still uncertain, but the recognition of the second most populous country in the African Union would be significant for Somaliland’s independence aspirations.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991, but internationally it is still considered part of Somalia. As a region, Somaliland’s borders follow the territory ruled by Britain during the colonial period, which united with the Italian colony of Somalia to form one state in 1960.
Among other things, Somaliland has its own parliament, president, currency and legal system.
Information Ethiopia’s promise to recognize Somaliland has been enough to make Somalia nervous. It has called the deal an attack on its sovereignty and said it will block it by any means necessary.
Somalia’s sovereignty has been supported by, among other things United States and European Union.
Turkey, Somalia’s ally, has also pushed its diplomatic spoon into the soup, which has set up negotiations between representatives of Ethiopia and Somalia in the capital Ankara.
The first conciliatory meeting was held in July, but with little success. British Broadcasting Corporation BBC said at the time that the next negotiations are scheduled to take place in September.
Also regional military power Egypt has positioned itself in support of Somalia. Egypt’s relations with Ethiopia have been strained since Ethiopia launched in 2011 in the upper reaches of the Blue Nile dam projectwhich threatens the water supply of downstream Egypt.
Earlier in August, Egypt signed a security agreement with Somalia. It has also offered to send troops to a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia next year.
Last Tuesday, Egypt delivered its first military aid to Somalia in decades, Reuters reports. According to the news agency’s diplomatic and government sources, two Egyptian army planes arrived at Mogadishu airport on Tuesday, carrying weapons and ammunition.
“If the Egyptians come to Somalia and place their troops on the border against Ethiopia, the countries may drift directly into a confrontation,” Sahan Research think tank analyst Rashid Abdi tells Reuters.
“The probability of a direct war is small, but a proxy war is possible.”
Tensions it is feared that the situation in the unstable region will be weakened already. Ethiopia’s second border in Sudan is underway bloody warwhich has driven millions of people to flee their homes.
In turn, Ethiopia and Somalia have fought together against the extremist Islamist al-Shabaab organization in Somalia. If the agreement with Somaliland is not cancelled, Somalia has threatened to kick almost 10,000 Ethiopian soldiers out of the country.
An important trade route and military bases of major powers perennial favorite Red Sea. It connects to the Gulf of Aden, the coast of which Ethiopia therefore seeks access.
A conflict in the region could involve the coastal states of the Red Sea, which see the sea as an important p
art of their national security, the US newspaper points out to The New York Times written by representatives of Mogadishu City University Afyare A. Elmi and Yusuf Hassan.
Read more: Ethiopia’s internal strife threatens to trigger a war between the African giants, where the Nile water will be fought over
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