President of Somalia Arrives in Eritrea for Key Meeting

President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh today landed in Eritrea to hold key discussions with his Eritrean counterpart. Isaias Afwerki, the Eritrean President, welcomed Hassan Sheikh Mehmood at Asmara airport.

Since May 2022 when he took office, Hassan Sheikh has visited Eritrea several times, but Isaias Afwerki did not reciprocate with a single visit. Wednesday’s visit is being seen as part of an effort by President of Somalia to take his allies, Egypt and Eritrea, on board regarding Ankara Declaration signed by Ethiopia and Somalia on December 11.

This week, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, the foreign minister of Somalia, visited Egypt. He announced in Cairo that Egyptian troops will be part of the new peacekeeping mission in Somalia, which is due to begin on January 1, 2025. Ethiopia has been opposing the entry of Egyptian military in Somalia.

Since the start of this year, Ethiopia and Somalia have been at loggerheads about a controversial MoU signed by Ethiopia and Somaliland. Landlocked Ethiopia wants to gain access to sea and establish a naval base in a neighboring country. Somalia opposes the Ethiopia-Somaliland MoU as it contains a provision about Ethiopia recognizing Somaliland as a country. Somaliland is internationally recognized part of Somalia. It wants to be recognized as an independent country.

According to Ankara Declaration, Ethiopia and Somalia will start talks before February 2025 and reach final agreement about access to sea within 4 months. Before the start of talks with Ethiopia, Somalia’s President wants to taken his allies on board. Eritrea and Egypt have been vowing to support Somalia since the start of Ethiopia-Somalia confrontation in January 2024.

It seems that Egypt and Eritrea would oppose sea access for Ethiopia through Somalia especially if it includes deployment of Ethiopian military. Somalia is walking a fine line to appease its allies while reaching an agreement with Ethiopia.

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