Somalia vows to defend sovereignty after Ethiopia-Somaliland deal

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00:00 "The world's most populous landlocked nation wants access to the sea and Ethiopia is now

00:06 pinning its hopes on an agreement with Somaliland."

00:09 "This will be the starting point for our cooperation with the brotherly people of Somaliland to

00:17 grow and develop together in cooperation and to ensure our common security."

00:25 Ethiopia says the memorandum will allow it to use the port of Berbera on the Gulf of

00:29 Aden to establish a military base, paving the way for commercial operations.

00:35 The president of Somaliland said as part of the agreement, Ethiopia would later become

00:40 the first country to recognise its independence.

00:44 Somaliland functions as a de facto sovereign state but remains without international recognition

00:50 after declaring independence from Somalia in 1999.

00:54 Ethiopia's government is holding an emergency meeting on the deal this Tuesday, just a week

00:59 after reports that it had agreed to talks with Somaliland.

01:03 Somalian Minister Abdirazak Omar Mohammed was among those criticising the agreement.

01:08 Ethiopia knows well that it can't sign a military pact or memorandum to lease a port with the

01:13 regional head of state.

01:14 That mandate is the prerogative of the federal government of Somalia.

01:19 Ethiopia currently does most of its trade through Djibouti, after losing access to the

01:23 coast in the 90s following Eritrea's war of independence.

01:29 In October, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sparked concern when he said his country would assert

01:34 its right to access the sea.

01:36 The next month he tried to alleviate fears by vowing not to invade any neighbouring country.

01:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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