Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Meles Alm said statements by Egyptian officials on the agreement signed with the breakaway region of Somaliland “will bring nothing new”.
The news agency quoted “Arab World” spokesman as saying that “for the statements issued by our Egyptian brothers will not bring anything new,” noting that Egypt has previously issued “many similar statements on the issue of the Renaissance Dam, but the dam has reached what it has reached now, and directly and indirectly they are working on the instability of Ethiopia.”
During a press conference in the capital Addis Ababa, the spokesman downplayed the importance of repeated statements issued on the agreement with Somaliland, noting that “Ethiopia is a big country, so the statement of the Arab League as well will not bring anything.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that Egypt will not allow any threat to Somalia or its security, and that the agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland is rejected by all.
The Egyptian leader described the agreement as unacceptable, stressing that Somalia, as a member of the Arab League, has the right to defense support under the organization’s charter, saying regarding the agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland: “We will not allow the security of our brothers to be threatened.”
This was preceded by the Arab League’s declaration of solidarity with the government of Somalia in rejecting and condemning the memorandum signed between the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and “Somaliland”, which grants Ethiopia sea access within the port of Berbera.
The Arab League, in a statement obtained by Sputnik, described the memorandum signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland as “a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Somali state.”
The separatist Somaliland region signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia earlier this year, allowing Addis Ababa the right to use a 20-kilometer waterfront of Somali territory for 50 years, which the Somali government condemned, stressing that it “will confront this agreement by all legal means”, considering it “aggression and a flagrant violation of its sovereignty.”
A-lyurae/(Sputnik)
