MADRID Jan. 3 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The governments of Somalia and Ethiopia have put diplomatic tensions between both neighboring countries on hold for the moment with a symbolic visit in which they have agreed to “collaborate” within the framework of the new African Union mission, which aims to contain the threat. of Islamist terrorism.
Just one day after the formal start of the renewed African Union Stabilization and Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), key in the fight against the jihadist organization Al Shabaab, a delegation from the Ethiopian Government led by the Ethiopian Minister of Defense, Aisha Mohammed, has moved to Mogadishu.
“The two countries have agreed to collaborate in the AUSSOM mission and to strengthen bilateral relations,” the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry reported this Friday in a statement, without going into the practical aspects into which this apparent rapprochement could be translated.
Ethiopia had historically been a key partner of Somalia in the fight against terrorism, as demonstrated by the sending of thousands of soldiers both within the framework of the African Union mission and bilaterally. However, Ethiopian recognition of Somaliland, a separatist region in northern Somalia, led to political conflict between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu.
The two parties agreed in December to begin a dialogue mediated by Turkey and the visit of the Ethiopian delegation has also coincided with the incorporation of Somalia as a non-permanent member state of the UN Security Council, a milestone that the country African has not obtained for more than half a century.
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