Ethiopia PM issues warning over sovereignty

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (R) steps down from his plane as he arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on September 4, 2024, for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on September 4-6. Agence France-Presse

NAIROBI — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed warned Sunday that his country would “humiliate” any nation that threatens its sovereignty, as tensions spiral in the volatile Horn of Africa.

Africa’s second most populous nation is locked in a dispute with neighboring Somalia over a maritime deal it signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland. Relations with Egypt are also fraught over Ethiopia’s mega-dam on the Blue Nile.

“We will not be touched! However, we will humiliate anyone who dares to threaten us in order to dissuade them,” Abiy said at a Sovereignty Day ceremony in the capital Addis Ababa.

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“We won’t negotiate with anyone on Ethiopia’s sovereignty and dignity,” he was quoted as saying by the official Ethiopian News Agency.

Ethiopia last month accused unnamed actors of seeking to “destabilize the region” after Egypt sent military equipment to Somalia following the signing of a military cooperation pact between Cairo and Mogadishu.

Egypt has also offered to deploy troops to Somalia under a new African Union-led mission that will replace the current peacekeeping force known as ATMIS next year.

Ethiopia is currently a major contributor to ATMIS, which is helping Somali forces in the fight against the Al-Shabaab jihadist group.

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But Mogadishu is furious over a deal signed in January between Ethiopia and Somaliland that gives Addis Ababa long-sought after access to the sea, saying it was an attack on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Under the pact, Somaliland agreed to lease 20 kilometers (12 miles) of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port on the coast.

In return, Somaliland has said Ethiopia would give it formal recognition, although this has never been confirmed by Addis Ababa.

Turkey has been mediating indirect talks between Ethiopia and Somalia to try to resolve the dispute, but they have made no significant breakthrough.

Somaliland, a former British protectorate of 4.5 million people, declared independence in 1993 but the move is rejected by Mogadishu and not recognized by the international community.

Cairo and Addis Ababa have been at loggerheads for years, trading incendiary words over Ethiopia’s massive hydroelectric dam project, which Egypt says threatens its fragile water security.