Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi yesterday talked about how to prevent a potential Eritrea Ethiopia conflict.
The President Bihi was talking about the controversial MoU singed by Ethiopia and Somaliland at the start of this year. The MoU, if implemented, would give landlocked Ethiopia access to sea through Somaliland. In return, Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as a country. Somaliland, internationally recognized as part of Somalia, has been struggling to gain recognition for almost three decades.
The Ethiopia-Somaliland MoU could not be implemented due to stiff resistance from Somalia which calls this MoU a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty. But in recent statements, Somaliland President and other leaders said that progress was being made towards signing final agreement with Ethiopia.
In a talk on Sunday, Muse Bihi Abdi said that Somaliland-Ethiopia agreement could prevent a potential conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia as the agreement would satisfy Ethiopian desire for sea port.
Tension heightened between Eritrea and Ethiopia last year when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in a speech, implied that Ethiopia had natural right to gain access to sea port as some of ports in neighboring countries were once part of Ethiopia. The PM did not name Eritrea but his talk was seen as directed at Eritrea. Eritrea formally gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993, which made Ethiopia landlocked.
The Somaliland President added that building of Ethiopian naval base in Somaliland, which is part of the MoU, would help international community in making navigation through Red Sea safe. It seems that Ethiopia and Somaliland are making progress towards implementing the MoU which has not been made public so far.
Will Ethiopia be satisfied with gaining access to Berbera port in Somaliland? Or will it afterwards repeat its claim of having natural right to gain access to another port?
Read more..
More than 20 Eritreans injured in a massive brawl in Sheffield UK
Countries congratulate Ethiopia on controversial National Day