Baghdad-INA
The European Union stressed that respect for Somalia’s sovereignty is the “key” to peace in the Horn of Africa, after the controversial agreement it signed with Addis Ababa, the breakaway region of Somaliland, under which Ethiopia obtained a sea port.
A spokesman for the Union said in a statement that the bloc “would like to recall the importance of respecting the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia in accordance with its constitution and the charters of the African Union and the United Nations.”
He added that this matter “is the key to peace and stability in the entire Horn of Africa region.”
The agreement signed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed with Somaliland leader Musa Bihi Abdi grants Ethiopia, a landlocked state, for 50 years a 20-kilometre-long outlet on the Red Sea, including especially the port of Berbera and a military base, in exchange for Addis Ababa officially recognizing Somaliland as an independent republic.
Somaliland, or Somaliland, declared its independence from Mogadishu in 1991 unilaterally, in a move that was not recognized by the international community.
In response to this agreement, the Somali government announced that “Somaliland is part of Somalia under the Somali Constitution, and therefore Somalia considers this measure a blatant violation of its sovereignty and unity.”
Mogadishu also asked the United Nations and the African Union to work together to confront this “aggression from Ethiopia and interference in Somali sovereignty” and recalled its ambassador to Addis Ababa “for consultation.”