Leaders of Egypt, Somalia and Eritrea, countries with tense relations with Ethiopia, have been meeting in the Eritrean capital Asmara.
Eritrea’s statement at the end of the summit mentioned “respect for the sovereignty… and territorial integrity of countries in the region”.
This could be seen as a pointed reference to landlocked Ethiopia’s ambitions to have access to seaports, without specifically mentioning the country.
Recent diplomatic disagreements have prompted Somalia to forge closer ties with Egypt and Eritrea, both of which have long-standing disputes with Ethiopia.
There are fears that the rising tensions could turn into some kind of conflict.
“This is an axis of opposition [Ethiopian capital] Addis Ababa,” Hassan Khannenje, director of the Horn Institute for International and Strategic Studies, told BBC Africa Focus.
“I think this is an attempt to bring hatred together, to try to increase pressure on Addis Ababa.”
But Somali Information Minister Daoud Awis denied this and said the meeting was only about cooperation between the three countries.
“We have no intention of inciting anything against Addis Ababa,” he told Focus on Africa.
“Addis Ababa is our neighbor and we have cooperated for a long time, although later their leadership raised instability in the region. But we still stand for peace and we do not believe that such a meeting will As Mara is associated with Ethiopia.
A photo released by Eritrea after the meeting showed President Isaias Afwerki shaking hands with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed.
A statement said the three “agreed… to strengthen Somali state institutions to face various internal and external challenges and enable the Somali National Federation to counter all forms of terrorism”.
This is Sisi’s first visit to Asmara, while the Somali president has visited Asmara for the third time this year.
For years, Ethiopia has been a staunch supporter of the Mogadishu government’s crackdown on Al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab.
But Somalia is angry that Ethiopia signed a preliminary agreement with the self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland earlier this year to lease part of its coastline. Somalia considers Somaliland part of its territory.
Meanwhile, Addis Ababa and Cairo have been at loggerheads for more than a decade over Ethiopia’s construction of a massive hydroelectric dam on the Nile River. Egypt believes this could pose a threat to the volumes of river water it relies on.
last month, An Egyptian ship delivers a large amount of military equipment to Somalia. This comes after two Egyptian military aircraft carrying weapons and ammunition landed in the Somali capital in August.
In 2018, there were hopes that tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea would end since a bloody border war two decades ago.
At that time, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a “Declaration of Peace and Friendship” with Eritrea.
The agreement earned him the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.
But relations between the Horn of Africa neighbors have soured again following the end of a two-year civil war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which borders Eritrea.
Asmara had been an ally of the Ethiopian government in that conflict but was lukewarm on a deal to end the fighting in November 2022.
Abiy’s announcement last year that his country wanted to gain access to Red Sea ports further soured ties.
