Somali Defense Minister Abdiqadir Mohamed Nur and his Ethiopian counterpart Aisha Mohamed discussed defense cooperation and regional security issues between the two countries, while Addis Ababa announced that it wanted to support the new African Union force in Somalia.
Mohamed Nour mentioned – today, Friday, in a post on the X platform – that he met his Ethiopian counterpart in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. He pointed out that during the meeting they discussed defense cooperation and regional security issues between the two countries.
In this context, Ethiopia announced that it wants to support the new force of the African Union, which is scheduled to deploy this month in Somalia to combat “Al-Shabaab.”
In response to this announcement, the Somali authorities expressed – today, Friday – their “readiness to study Ethiopia’s request to send forces to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission.”
These statements reflect an improvement in relations between the two countries, which were strained after Addis Ababa signed an agreement with Somaliland about a year ago, granting it a maritime outlet in the separatist region.
Mogadishu had previously threatened to expel about 10,000 Ethiopian soldiers deployed in Somalia, and indicated that Ethiopian forces would not participate in the new peacekeeping mission approved by the UN Security Council at the end of 2024.
After months of estrangement, on December 11, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Somalia and Ethiopia had reached a historic agreement to put aside their differences, during a press conference in the capital, Ankara, with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
According to the agreement, which was called the Ankara Declaration, the two countries will work together to conclude trade agreements to allow Ethiopia reliable, safe and sustainable access to and from the sea under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
Relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa deteriorated early last year, when Ethiopia, a landlocked country with no sea ports, concluded an agreement with the breakaway Somaliland region (Somaliland) allowing it to exploit the port of Berbera on the Gulf of Aden commercially and militarily.
In return, Ethiopia, according to the agreement, officially recognizes “Somaliland” as an independent state from Somalia, and grants it a share in the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines.
This agreement angered the Somali government, which described it as illegal and a threat to good neighborliness and a violation of its sovereignty, while the Ethiopian government defended the agreement, saying that it would not affect any party or country.