Somalia today formally opposed the inclusion of Ethiopia in the new peacekeeping mission which is going to take over at the start of next year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia issued a policy statement today.
The mandate of the current peacekeeping mission in Somalia called African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) will expire in December this year. On the first of January 2025, African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) will take over.
Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Djibouti are troop contributors to the existing mission. But Somalia wants to kick out Ethiopia from the new mission. It wants inclusion of Egypt and Eritrea in AUSSOM, though in today’s statement, Somalia did not name the countries which should be part of the new mission but it said, Somalia “holds the authority to decide which Troop Partner Nation (TPNs) will contribute troops to this mission. The decision on troop contributions must align with Somalia’s national interests and the preservation of its sovereignty.”
It accused Ethiopia of violating Somalia’s sovereignty by signing an agreement with Somaliland. “Ethiopia’s recent unilateral actions, including an illegal agreement with Somalia’s northern region, violate our sovereignty and erode the trust essential for peacekeeping,” the Foreign Ministry of Somalia said in today’s statement.
It further accused Ethiopia of being the cause of rise in the activities of Al Shabaab armed group. “Past Ethiopian deployments have led to increased Al-Shabaab activity and little development. This demands a more strategic selection of troop partners to ensure AUSSOM aligns with Somalia’s security and
development goals,” it said.
It remains to be seen how the donor countries, which fund peacekeeping mission in Somalia, would react to today’s statement by the government of Somalia. EU, US and UN member countries support peacekeeping operations in Somalia.
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