Somalia, Egypt, and Eritrea form an alliance to counter Ethiopia’s regional aspirations
Turning up in Mogadishu, Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi gets a warm welcome after returning from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Mogadishu (AX) — Just back from the international spotlight, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, Somalia’s Foreign Minister, recently chewed the fat with Egyptian and Eritrean counterparts, focusing on what Somalia says are ongoing invasions by Ethiopia into its turf. Both Egypt and Eritrea threw their weight behind Somalia, lambasting Ethiopia for actions that jeopardize Somalia’s territorial wholeness.
Chatting with journalists, Fiqi underscored the pressing need to beef up defenses along the volatile Ethiopia-Somalia frontier, mapping out plans to send more troops to mend the leaky edge and snuff out arms trafficking.
“The rogue gear running in from Ethiopia spells doom for our tranquility, but we’re dead set on safeguarding our borders and holding the involved parties straight,” Fiqi asserted.
He publicly addressed a no-trust motion cooked up by lawmakers, questioning the veracity of the allegations against him. Scoffing at them as groundless, he shared hopes for a quick solution in an upcoming tête-à-tête with the parliament band, penciled in for Sunday evening, aiming to “clear the air without delay.”
These powwows with Egypt and Eritrea trailed Fiqi’s recent fiery words against Ethiopia at the United Nations Security Council, where he vehemently reproached Addis Ababa for persistently chipping away at Somalia’s self-governance. He divulged that Ethiopia stands accused of contraband arms smuggling into Somalia not once but twice over the past months—a scenario heating up already icy interrelations.
The bone of contention lies in Ethiopia’s much-debated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with North Western State of Somalia, granting Ethiopian access to the lucrative Red Sea corridors. Somalia denounced the pact as a blow to its sovereignty.
Egypt has ratcheted up its military assistance to Somalia, doling out weaponry and troop training. Analysts reckon this upswing in Egyptian military aid is a calculated maneuver to curb Ethiopia’s expanding clout in the Horn of Africa, especially given their ongoing tussle over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), seen by Cairo as a critical threat to their water lifeline.
Eritrea, which sits astride vital Red Sea maritime passages, has knotted a strategic camaraderie with both Egypt and Somalia. Although erstwhile allies in the scuffle with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Eritrea and Ethiopia’s relationship is fraught with unresolved territorial and political spats. Eritrea’s pivotal geography and age-old rivalry with Ethiopia fashion it into a fitting ally in this mushrooming trio aiming to dethrone Addis Ababa’s burgeoning regional foothold.
Edited by: Ali Musa
Axadle international–Monitoring
