Ethiopia Defends MoU with Somaliland

Ethiopia has been mostly silent about the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with Somaliland while Somalia delved into garnering military, diplomatic and military support from the region on alleged grounds that the agreement violates its sovereignty.

Now Ethiopia is openly defending the agreement and did so at the U.N. General Assembly.

During his speech, Taye reaffirmed Ethiopia’s dedication to multilateralism and collaboration in the Horn of Africa, contextualizing the accord within a more comprehensive plan for mutual development. “The current political system in Somalia serves as the foundation for Ethiopia’s memorandum of understanding with Somaliland. “We reject the baseless accusations made against Ethiopia regarding this agreement, and our goal is shared growth and prosperity in the region,” Taye declared. In order to confront the more immediate threat of terrorism in the area, he advised Somalia to concentrate on cooperation. “We encourage Somalia to work with us to eliminate the terrorist threats that plague the region,” he stated.

Ethiopia also made claims that the “objective is shared growth and prosperity in the region.” Another point that the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister made at the assembly is that  similar agreements have been  with other states.

Ethiopia doesn’t waver in its beliefs. “Our intentions are not to undermine any nation’s sovereignty but to pursue mutually beneficial partnerships,” Taye stated at the United Nations. He continued by saying that Ethiopia had just signed comparable deals with other nations in an effort to promote trade and development throughout the region.

Taye added that ” there is no reason for the Federal Government of Somalia to incite hostility that obviously intends to cover internal political tensions.”

The contributions of Ethiopia along with nations in the region to protect Somalia from terrorist groups and the sacrifices made in that regard was also highlighted – apparently to demonstrate that Ethiopia does not have ill-intentions against Somalia. But activists from Somalia would reduce this point to “service was not in exchange for land.”

An update from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited Taye Atske-Selassie, the Minister, as saying, in his speech at the U.N. , the MoU with Somaliland is ” based on existing political dispensation in Somalia…”

Ethiopia also made claims that the “objective is shared growth and prosperity in the region.” Another point that the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister made at the assembly is that  similar agreements have been  with other states.

Taye added that ” there is no reason for the Federal Government of Somalia to incite hostility that obviously intends to cover internal political tensions.”

The contributions of Ethiopia along with nations in the region to protect Somalia from terrorist groups and the sacrifices made in that regard was also highlighted – apparently to demonstrate that Ethiopia does not have ill-intentions against Somalia. But activists from Somalia would reduce this point to “service was not in exchange for land.”