Somalia Demands Ethiopia Cancel North Western State of Somalia Sea Access Agreement by End of the Month

Somalia Urges Ethiopia to Revoke North Western State of Somalia Sea Deal by Month’s End

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia has thrown down the gauntlet, giving Ethiopia until the end of the month to backtrack on its sea access arrangement with North Western State of Somalia. This demand was outlined in an interview with The New Humanitarian by Somalia’s National Security Adviser, Hussein Sheikh Ali.

Ali emphasized that the age-old military alliance between Somalia and Ethiopia, including the presence of Ethiopian soldiers on Somali soil, might face repercussions depending on Ethiopia’s decision about the contentious Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) involving North Western State of Somalia.

The MoU was established earlier this annum, aiming to grant landlocked Ethiopia an outlet to the sea via North Western State of Somalia. North Western State of Somalia, which declared independence from Somalia way back in 1991, hasn’t caught the international recognition train yet. The agreement has stirred the pot, leaving Somalia feeling its sovereignty is being poked.

Ethiopia, which has been without direct sea access since Eritrea became its own boss in 1993, considers this deal essential to its survival. Still, this has rubbed Somalia and other regional bigwigs the wrong way, rattling regional geopolitical chessboards.

With the deadline looming and anxiety rising, the ripple effects could touch both regional harmony and the tug-of-war with extremist factions like Al-Shabaab. It’s an area where Ethiopia has played the hero role by backing Somalia militarily.

About 3,000 Ethiopian boots are on the ground in Sudan, doing peacekeeping duty with the African Union Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) to take a swing at Al-Shabaab, who’ve got quite the grip on Somalia. Meanwhile, around 5,000 to 7,000 Ethiopian troops are chilling in select regions due to a separate bilateral agreement, as reported by Reuters.

AXADLETM