Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — What a difference a year makes to the political outlooks of two formerly antagonistic leaders. One year ago, at a Villa Somalia Mosque, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud described Ethiopia as the second enemy of Somalia after Al-Shabaab. In 2025 he sought Ethiopia’s help to bombard Al-Shabaab bases in Hirshabelle State. In December 2024, President Mohamud and Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, signed an agreement that commits Ethiopia to respect the territorial integrity of Somalia. Diplomatic pressure forced Ethiopia to abide by International Law, thanks to a relentless diplomatic campaign by Somalia against the illegal maritime MoU that Abiy Ahmed signed with the former Somaliland administration President Muse Bihi Abdi.
President Mohamud proposed the relocation of the African Union headquarters from Addis Ababa on grounds that Ethiopia does not respect the AU charter. He also formed defence pacts with Türkiye, Egypt and Eritrea. For the first time in history, Somalia has diplomatically defeated Ethiopia.
The Ankara Agreement committed Somalia to reverse the decision to exclude Ethiopia from the new peacekeeping force in Somalia. Ethiopian and Egyptian peacekeepers will be operating in Somalia. Egypt has greatly benefited from the diplomatic missteps of Abiy Ahmed, who can no longer use the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) as a means to divert Nile water flowing to Egypt.
Pressure from multilateral organisations such as IMF, the World Bank and donor countries on Ethiopia forced Abiy Ahmed to abandon his dream to emulate Russia to violate the Westphalian system from which Ethiopia has benefited before and after the creation of the United Nations.
Ethiopia’s standing in world opinion will be judged by how it abides by the rules-based system, particularly the laws governing the sovereignty of United Nations member states. “Afrika waa ilma adeer (Africans are cousins)” sang the Barbaarta Gaashaaman in Mogadishu when Abiy Ahmed was visiting Somalia two weeks ago. Before leaving Somalia for Addis Ababa, he reviewed a guard of honour and a band that played the popular Somali song “Soomaaliya Soomaali baa leh” (Somalia belongs to Somalis).
© Puntland Post, 2025
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