On August 3, 2023, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for official diplomatic talks. The senior officials held their meeting because Ethiopia and Somalia made peace after their major conflict burst in January 2024 when Ethiopia proposed leasing Somaliland beachfront property. A diplomatic crisis developed between Ethiopia and Somalia when they agreed to give Ethiopia land access to naval ports in return for considering Somaliland’s independence.
Somalia protested this agreement as violating its land borders so it threatened to expel Ethiopian peacekeepers and built better relationships with its regional opponents Egypt and Eritrea.
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During December 2024 Ethiopia and Somalia signed an arrangement to create shipping routes that would let Ethiopia use ports safely while protecting Somali independence. Diplomatic and security relations between the nations need to resume as the two leaders meet today to put their earlier deal into practice in the conflict-prone region of East Africa.
