“Sovereignty Day”  Message : Ethiopian PM sends warning to aggressors 

“Any Country should think not once,  ten times when it wants to aggress against Ethiopia” Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed’s “Sovereignty Day” speech  

borkena 

Toronto –  With Egypt apparently planning a war of aggression against Ethiopia by exploiting the newly signed defense agreement with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud government of  Somalia, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seized the occasion of “Sovereignty Day” to send a warning message against the development.

The “Sovereignty Day” started to be celebrated, during the last month of the Ethiopian Calendar, Pagume, which has only five or six days depending whether it is a leap year or not, after Abiy Ahmed came to power. 

In his speech, he emphasized that  “Ethiopia is interested in peace and security but the country will fight against those forces who come” against that. 

In his televised speech, without naming a name he said “What I want those who are near and far to understand is…we will humiliate and return them as we used to…” 

A day before his speech, Defense Chief of Staff Field Marshal Berhanu Jula conveyed a similar message on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the Eastern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Force. But he mentioned Somalia by name when he said “Somalia is allying with Ethiopia’s historical enemy and making inappropriate activity.” 

Tension developed between Ethiopia and Somalia starting from January 1, 2024. It was triggered by the Memorandum of Understanding with Somaliland – that used to be part of Somalia until it parted ways more than three decades ago.  The government in Hassan Sheikh Mohamud ‘s government accused Ethiopia of violating “Somalia’s sovereignty” because of the agreement with Somaliland. 

Somaliland rejects Mogadishu’s claim as it has been asserting its sovereignty for  decades. But Ethiopia has been pursuing to resolve the matter with Somalia peacefully. Turkey initiated indirect talks between Ethiopia and Somalia in Ankara and two rounds of talks were held. 

As the two countries were scheduled to have the third round of talk in early September 2024, Mogadishu ditched the talk and signed a military pact with Egypt which is deploying 10,000 troops in Somalia. Many regions within Somalia itself are opposed to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud moves and the arrival of  Egyptian troops in Somalia. 

Ethiopia has been responding to the development. Its ambassador to Somaliland submitted credentials to president Muse Bihi Abdi. In terms of military action, since last week, there have been reports that the Ethiopian Defense Force is deploying mechanized units and anti-aircraft missile systems to the Ethiopia-Somalia border.

However, Ethiopia is not without internal problems at this time. In August 2023, Abiy Ahmed’s government declared war in the Amhara region of Ethiopia under the guise of “disarming the Fano forces.”  The region has been under 10 months of an official state of emergency and is currently under similar circumstances although the “legal” jurisdiction of the state of emergency came to an end several months ago. His government has been implicated in pervasive and egregious rights abuse including extrajudicial killngs and rape. The Fano forces emerged stronger from the ongoing war and it became clear that government forces. The operation that was intended for a few weeks is still underway after well over a year. 

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