Following Israel’s recognition of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland as an independent nation, Eritrea said the move “warrants an unequivocal response at the level of the UN Security Council and its members”.
In a statement, Eritrea’s Ministry of Information said the move was not a new development, adding that it had been “brewing for some time” and was intended “to stoke dangerous regional and global crises and mayhem”.
The statement also linked the issue to Taiwan, saying it was “particularly incumbent on the People’s Republic of China to shoulder its moral responsibilities”, an issue on which Beijing has long set out and advocated its position.
Eritrea has joined Egypt, Turkey, Djibouti, and Somalia in opposing the move. Days earlier, Egypt’s foreign minister held separate phone calls with his counterparts in Somalia, Turkey, and Djibouti to discuss Israel’s declaration.
In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry said the four countries reaffirmed their support for Somalia’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, warning against unilateral steps that could undermine regional stability or create what they described as “parallel entities” to Somalia’s state institutions.
Ethiopia has yet to state its position publicly.
Isaias lived by shedding blood. He will leave behind unending conflict when he is gone (will be turning 80 in two months). Just one last time before he departed, he went over to Egypt and Saudi to hand over Assab port to reign in Ethiopia’s interests and power. For six decades, all he did was to keep Ethiopia embroiled in ethnic unrest and/or interfere in Somali, Sudanese, Yemeni clashes. He outsourced Eritreans to fight in Yemen as mercenaries ($$$), trained Somali fighters, OLF, Tplf, Shenee, Fano. He was involved in South Sudan, Uganda, and Congo, mainly smuggling arms, looting precious minerals, money-laundering, and so on. Isaias is Sick Man of the Horn of Africa. He governed through fear, force, and unending conflict. He looted Ethiopia until Tplf put a stop to it and kept him isolated for 20 years. Tplf’s concern was not Ethiopia’s welfare but that Isaias was sharing in the loot. Isaias could never allow dissent or implement the Constitution on paper. His style of leadership was to keep the lid on, gates closed, and war-monger. He ended up stealing the life of two generations of Eritreans, driving them away by the thousands. The broken country is now without young people and only old folk like himself. It appears a cruel justice has been meted out because of Isaias’s dark and destructive leadership. Coming generations will be hamstrung gathering and sorting the broken pieces and under the thumb of the Saudis and Egyptians. Isaias took over a dry sliver of land in turmoil that he caused. He will leave behind an entity ripe for another round of turmoil over who should takeover.
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state could actually work in Ethiopia’s favour. From Egypt’s point of view, it’s tied up with its long-running rivalry with Ethiopia. After Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland two years ago, Egypt hit back by offering to send troops to Somalia.
I’d argue this wasn’t really about keeping Somalia stable, but about pushing back against Ethiopia’s growing influence in the region. Egypt’s moves in Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea are all part of a broader effort to put pressure on Addis Ababa. With Israel now entering the region to pursue its own economic and political interests, Egypt stands to lose ground rather than gain it.