Ethiopia threatens to violate the sovereignty of Somalia

[Deeq A.]

Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, regards himself as the West’s man in the Horn of Africa and believes that he will get away with any violation of Somalia’s territorial integrity.

Mogadishu (PP Comment) — The statement by Alemu Sime, Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics, that the maritime Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and the secessionist administration of Somaliland “will make Ethiopia’s quest to get access to sea outlets a reality,” is a provocation, an intentional disrespect to international norms and an attempt to violate the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Anyone familiar with the history of Somalia-Ethiopia relations can understand the potential consequences of the aggression-prone rhetoric from Addis Ababa. Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, regards himself as the West’s man in the Horn of Africa and believes that he will get away with any violation of Somalia’s territorial integrity.

António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, might go down in history as the man who oversaw the UN when its Charter is at risk of being violated by a country that suffered when the Covenant of the League of Nations was violated more than 84 years ago. At the 2017 London Somalia Conference, Guterres said that ATMIS is in Somalia to prevent global threats due to transnational terrorism. Why is the United Nations silent when Ethiopia threatens to violate the territorial integrity of Somalia? Its silence, and the silence of Western countries, sends the wrong message that Ethiopia is being encouraged to annex a Somali coastal territory. Invoking the principle of territorial integrity in the UN Charter in relation to Ukraine sounds hollow when Ethiopia wilfully undermines the sovereignty of Somalia without any consequences.

Somalia, with the help of its International Partners, devotes resources and energy to fighting terrorism and rebuilding its country. The provocative statements from a neighbouring country, Ethiopia, intent on violating the territorial integrity of Somalia, aid the forces of evil who want to turn Somalia into ungoverned spaces. The United Nations and Somalia’s international partners should rein in Ethiopia, whose expansionist policies in the past caused wars between the countries. The United Nations should learn from the lessons that sealed the fate of the League of Nations.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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