Somalia’s president signs law canceling Ethiopia Red Sea access deal

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud officially invalidated Ethiopia’s agreement that granted the landlocked Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, access to the Red Sea in exchange for a stake in Ethiopian Airlines.

Mohamud declared the memorandum of agreement entered into last week between the two governments as “illegal,” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, while he signed a law that repealed the deal on Saturday evening.

Somalia has said the sea access deal breaches its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The government announced that it will defend and protect the autonomy in a statement following the now-nullified agreement, and recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia for urgent consultation.

The president did not disclose specific details regarding the content of the new law or the timeline of its approval by the Somali parliament. 

Officials in Somaliland and Ethiopia didn’t immediately respond when contacted for comment by Bloomberg News.