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Egypt, Eritrea vow stronger ties after Cairo’s pledge to boost Somalia security
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    Saturday July 12, 2025


    FILE - Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (right) meets with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh (left) during a bilateral discussion in Cairo. The two officials reaffirmed cooperation on regional security and political coordination, following directives from Presidents Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Isaias Afwerki. Credit/ TESFA

    Mogadishu (HOL) — Egypt and Eritrea have pledged to deepen political and security cooperation following a high-level phone call between their foreign ministers, held days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi met with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

    The commitment was reaffirmed Thursday in a phone call between Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Eritrea’s Foreign Minister Osman Saleh. According to Egypt’s Ahram Online and state media, the two diplomats hailed the strength of bilateral ties and emphasized the importance of building on progress made under the directives of Presidents el-Sissi and Isaias Afwerki. 

    The call followed President Hassan Sheikh’s July 6 visit to El Alamein, where Egypt reiterated its promise to expand military support for Somalia. Under an August 2024 agreement, Egypt is training Somali military units and plans to deploy troops as part of the African Union's post-ATMIS mission, known as AUSSOM. The deal comes as part of a broader strategy by Egypt to assert greater influence in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa.

    Somalia’s presidency, in a statement after the summit, welcomed Egypt’s increased military engagement and called it “a reinforcement of Somali sovereignty and maritime protection.” 

    Under an August 2024 security agreement, Egypt is training Somali military units and preparing to contribute troops to the African Union’s new stabilization mission, AUSSOM, which is replacing ATMIS.

    In a speech on July 7, el-Sissi warned that “any attempt to undermine Somalia’s sovereignty or destabilize the Red Sea will be firmly opposed.” Egypt has backed its position with tangible actions, including military aid shipments to Somalia in August 2024 and a pledge in December to deploy troops under the AUSSOM framework.

    Somalia has also sought to align more closely with Eritrea and Djibouti in response to Ethiopia’s January 2024 memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, which would grant Ethiopia access to a naval base on the Gulf of Aden. Mogadishu immediately rejected that deal as a violation of its territorial integrity.

    Turkish-brokered talks aimed at resolving the dispute collapsed last week. With Ankara’s mediation stalled, Mogadishu has increasingly looked to hedge its bets with Egypt and Arab League allies to reinforce its territorial and maritime claims.

    Eritrea, which maintains strained ties with Ethiopia following the collapse of the Pretoria peace agreement in late 2023, has aligned itself closely with Cairo’s regional strategy. The growing trilateral alignment between Egypt, Eritrea, and Somalia was first formalized during an October 2024 summit in Asmara, where the three nations pledged to uphold Somalia’s sovereignty and coordinate regional diplomacy.

     





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