Mogadishu (PP Editorial ) — The Laascaanood conflict continues to acquire geopolitical dimensions. The Somaliland Administration Foreign Minister Essa Kayd Mohamoud told the Reporter, an Addis Ababa-based newspaper, that “Somaliland is a buffer zone for Ethiopia”. Essa Kayd reminded Ethiopia of its economic disadvantage. “It is an ongoing matter. Ethiopia being a landlocked country, we have a lot of interest in making sure that the two countries benefit from the Berbera port” Kayd said.
After the state collapse in Somalia the national infrastructures, such as seaports, have become a political and economic leverage for sub-national entities. In this situation post-1991 Somalia’s autonomous administrations see an advantage to deal with a fully sovereign country like Ethiopia to the utmost disadvantage of Somalia. Ethiopia, the seat of the African Union, might be tempted to unwittingly promote the violation of the sovereignty of Somalia if it joins the scramble for Somali seaports. Weak state capacity in Somalia does not entitle Ethiopia to fail to strike a balance in dealing with a secession-seeking sub-national entity and its neighbourly relations with the Federal Government of Somalia.
“Recently, we came to talk to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) less than a month ago, and prior to that, there were also other meetings, and we are on the same page in terms of making sure that we take care of each other and that the insurgents, elements, or terrorists do not come through here. So, we are buffer zone for Ethiopia” Essay Kayd Mohamoud.
There is something odd about characterising the relations between Ethiopia and Somaliland Administration, an entity claiming to have seceded from Somalia, in buffer zone terms. Seyoum Mesfin, the former Ethiopia Foreign Minister, conceived the buffer zones strategy against Somalia in a 2018 essay published in Daedalus . “In fact, the government of Somalia is unable to credibly guarantee to Ethiopia that these territories will not be used to threaten Ethiopia, so Ethiopia often is blamed for interference… A second strategy revolves around creating and maintaining buffer zones. Ethiopia and Kenya sustain buffer zones inside Somalia, effectively denying Al Shabaab and other extremist groups the capacity to launch attacks inside Ethiopia and Kenya” argued Mesfin.
This buffer zone strategy has nor materialised. TPLF hegemony in Ethiopia came to an end in 2018. The claim made by Mohamoud that Somaliland “is a buffer zone for Ethiopia”, is nostalgic about the 2013 EPRDF policy proclaimed by the former Ethiopian Prime Minister. “Somaliland is a friend and a key strategic ally for Ethiopia. We will spare no expense to defend and protect Somaliland. We are ready to extend an arm of support to our Somaliland brothers every time they are in need of one,” Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn told the Parliamentarians Tigrai Online quoted Hailemariam Desalegn as saying.
In November 2020, Desalegn wrote an article for Foreign Policy in which he criticised the TPLF leadership for not being serious about peace in Ethiopia. “If the TPLF leadership is guaranteed the impunity it desires through an internationally brokered deal, the cause for justice and sustainable peace will be severely harmed. Above all, it creates a precedent for other groupings within the Ethiopian federation to learn the wrong lesson: that violence pays off” argued Desalegn. The Somaliland as buffer zone for Ethiopia narrative is not a good news to the ears of the Ethiopian leadership grappling with the impact of a civil year that lasted almost for two years.
© Puntland Post, 2023
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