ADDIS ABABA- Opposing the Ethio- Somaliland agreement on mutual benefit has no justifiable cause, Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S. said, adding that depriving the former from sea access would create permanent instability in the Horn of Africa (HoA).
Ethiopia’s direct access to port will guarantee an enduring peace in the HoA and denying the aspiration of the hundred and twenty million people would bring imminent threat for the already volatile region, Ambassador Seleshi Bekele (Eng. PhD) told the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA).
According to Ambassador Seleshi, those interest groups that are opposing Ethiopia’s aspiration to sea access are opposing its engagement in the regional affairs.
Those groups oppose Ethiopia’s port deal knowing the fact that the accord will not bring any harm to their interest and they simply prefer to keep the country away from development and integration in the strategic region.
“Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the globe and the diplomatic cost to reverse such a lack of port access could not be easy. Though, we need to keep moving forward until we ensure at least a single reliable and enduring solution.”
The diplomat further highlighted that Ethiopia needs a sovereign access to port to protect its national interest and not to harm any party. “The global economy and diplomatic relations are challenging for a country devoid of guaranteed sea outlets. All this aspiration needs to be attained through a meticulous and intensive diplomatic engagement.”
He added, “It was very clear that those groups attempted to suppress Ethiopia’s engagement in the region even before the Ethio-Somaliland port accord. Hence, the Ethiopian government is defending its national interest considering what was happening in the past.”
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland is not something that happened overnight and it takes a long discussion and negotiations over the issue. The signed agreement does not relate to anything that could be utilized for creating a hot agenda for others, Ambassador Seleshi emphasized.
The HoA countries agenda should be to integrate themselves for economic and political benefits, not to worsen problems. Climate change, for example, is another agenda which needs much greater concern than trivial political cases.
The HoA integration also needs diplomatic forms of people-to-people, government to government and business-to-business, he remarked.
BY YESUF ENDRIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 18 JANUARY 2024
