Ethiopia, Somalia agree to restore diplomatic ties
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (left) with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the former bids farewell to the latter at the airport in Addis Ababa on January 12, 2025.
Ethiopia and Somalia agreed on Saturday to restore bilateral ties that were severed last year as they bickered over a controversial memorandum of agreement on the breakaway Somaliland.
The move came after Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Saturday afternoon and held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The landmark decision means years of tension between the two neighbours could be over, but they still have to work out the fate of the MoU which Ethiopia had signed with Somaliland, a region Mogadishu considers its territory.
Although never been publicised, the MoU reportedly granted Ethiopia a lease on a coastal strip in Somaliland to build a naval base in exchange for recognition of Somaliland as an independent state.
On Saturday, however, a joint communique issued after the meeting said the two leaders have exchanged views on a range of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest and held constructive discussions “on strengthening the fraternal relationship between the peoples of the two countries.”
Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral relations and addressing key regional challenges, it said.
The leaders also stressed the need for their diplomatic missions in multilateral and regional forums to cooperate closely on matters of mutual interest.
Somalia and Ethiopia have had a tapered relationship over the past decade. Twice, they went to war. But Ethiopia had been a key cog of Somalia’s rebuilding over the last two decades, including deploying troops both as part of an African Union-mandated missions to Somalia and through bilateral arrangements.
The latest dispute had come at an inopportune time, just as Somalia and its partners were preparing to transition from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) to the African Union Support and Stabilisation
Mission (Aussom).
While Ethiopia has been a part of Atmis, Mogadishu had indicated that it wouldn't be in Aussom. Somalia walked back on that stance last week, signalling a role for Ethiopia in the new mission. But Somalia had also reached an arrangement with Egypt, traditionally an Ethiopian rival in the Horn of Africa.
In Addis Ababa, the leaders emphasised that regional stability depended on strong cooperation between the two nations, based on mutual trust, confidence and respect, a dispatch said.
They agreed to collaborate closely to enhance regional relations, promote mutual understanding and drive shared progress, the communique stated.
The discussions also highlighted the need to strengthen security cooperation between the two countries.
Acknowledging the growing threat of extremist militant groups in the region, the leaders directed their security agencies to enhance cooperation to promote peace and stability.
They stressed the importance of boosting economic cooperation, trade, and investment between the countries.
The meeting itself was a signal that the bad blood may be over. Last year, Somalia filed complaints against Ethiopia in nearly every international forum, including the African Union and the United Nations, claiming that the MoU violated its sovereignty. It also expelled the Ethiopian ambassador to Mogadishu and recalled its own ambassador from Addis Ababa.
It also demanded that the Ethiopian army, which had been maintaining peace in Somalia for more than 15 years, withdraw from its territory.
But the rapprochement owes as much to Turkiye, an ally of both countries, as it does to the US back channels, which had warned that any bad tensions in the Horn could benefit violent extremists such as al-Shabaab and Isis.
Turkiye mediated between the two countries and succeeded in December in getting them to pledge to work out relations, including how Ethiopia could access the sea without violating Somalia's territorial integrity.
President Tayyip Erdogan hailed the agreement as "historic" and said it would be "the first step towards peace and cooperation."
During Saturday's meeting in Addis Ababa meeting, President Mohamud and Prime Minister Abiy reaffirmed their commitment to the Ankara Declaration in the spirit of friendship and solidarity it embodies, and agreed to expedite the technical negotiations outlined in the Declaration.
