Somalia: no mediation with Ethiopia until Somaliland port deal cancelled

The Ethiopia-Somalia feud continues as Mogadishu has called on Addis Ababa to retract its deal with Somaliland, ruling out on Thursday (18 January) any possible mediation until a controversial agreement with the breakaway region is cancelled.
Claiming its territorial integrity has been violated by the agreement, Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated there was “no space for mediation unless Ethiopia retracts its illegal deal” with Somaliland and reaffirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia. Tensions in the Horn of Africa have escalated after landlocked Ethiopia reached a deal with the breakaway region on 1 January that gives it access to the sea. This comes after the African Union’s (AU) conflict resolution body on Wednesday (17 January) called on the two countries “to exercise restraint, de-escalate and engage in meaningful dialogue towards finding a peaceful resolution of the matter”.
Somaliland is a former British protectorate which declared its independence from Somalia in 1991, a move not until today recognized by the international community. Under the recent deal, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometers of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast. Ethiopia has for years sought access to the sea after Eritrea broke away from Addis Ababa and formally declared independence in 1993 following a three-decade war. Ethiopia, which currently relies on neighboring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade, stressed for much of 2023 the economic need for a seaport and even subtly hinted at possibly invading Eritrea for access to the Red Sea.