Ethiopia to assess Somaliland recognition under sea access deal

Ethiopia said its deal with Somaliland to gain access to the Red Sea allows the government to make an “in-depth assessment” toward deciding whether it would grant recognition to the breakaway region of Somalia.

Addis Ababa on Wednesday published additional details on X of the memorandum of understanding signed on Jan. 1 with Somaliland. The deal will grant Ethiopia a 50-year lease to establish a naval base and commercial maritime services on the strategically important Gulf of Aden. In exchange, Somaliland gets a stake in Ethiopian Airlines.

The move has sparked concern it could further inflame tensions in the Horn of Africa. Somalia, the United Nations-recognized owner of Somaliland, called it illegal and urged the international community to support its position.

Thousands of Somali residents gathered at a stadium in Mogadishu, the capital, on Wednesday to express their frustrations. One banner read, “we would prefer to die defending our territorial integrity rather than be threatened by Ethiopia, which is landlocked by nature.”

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a bloc of East African nations, expressed concerns. “IGAD is diligently monitoring the situation and recognizes the potential implications for regional stability,” Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said in a statement.

Ethiopia voiced its surprise at the response to the agreement, which is cast as a way to resolve its need to secure access to the sea through peaceful means.

“The position announced by the government is strongly rooted in a desire to not engage in a war with any one, to ensure that the options pursued are mutually beneficial to all stakeholders and expresses Ethiopia’s readiness to share its endowments,” it said. 

Ethiopia also argued that there had been no complaints raised when Somaliland signed agreements with other countries. In recent years Dubai state-controlled DP World Ltd. has taken over operating the breakaway region’s port of Berbera.