Military commanders from Ethiopia and Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland met on Monday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The commanders discussed military cooperation amid escalating tensions between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa after Ethiopia signed an initial agreement with Somaliland earlier this month that would grant it access to the sea through Berbera port located on the Red Sea.
The Ethiopian military officials claimed on Monday that Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) Chief of Staff Field Marshal Birhanu Jula and General Nuh Ismail Tani, Chief of Staff of Somaliland’s Armed Forces, “discussed possible ways to work together on military cooperation.”
Somalia has rejected Ethiopia’s Red Sea port deal with Somaliland, calling it “illegitimate,” as well as a threat to good neighbourship and a violation of its sovereignty. It also recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia after the deal was announced.
The deal gives Ethiopia access to a permanent and reliable naval base and commercial maritime services in the Gulf of Aden, as Ethiopia lost its Red Sea ports in the early 1990s after the Eritrean War of Independence, which lasted from 1961 to 1991.
In 1991, Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia, resulting in the establishment of two separate states. As a result of the division, Ethiopia lost direct access to the Red Sea and key ports.
