A maritime access agreement between landlocked Ethiopia and the self-declared republic of Somaliland was characterised by Somalia as an act of “aggression”, Al Jazeera reports.

Despite breaking away from Somalia over 30 years ago, Somaliland is not acknowledged globally.

The statement said that in return for military access to the coast, Ethiopia consented to eventually recognise its independence. However, this part of the controversial agreement was not confirmed by Ethiopia.

Rather, the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office announced that it inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) “to secure access to the sea and diversify its access to seaports”.

Sea access was earlier referred to by Abiy as a “existential issue” for his nation. Redwan Hussein, his national security advisor, also mentioned on X that Ethiopia would be able to use a “leased military base” on the sea as a result of the deal, but he did not provide any other information.

“A step ahead in the right direction for the this and generations to come. FDRE Signed MOU with Somaliland for Partnership and cooperation which paves the way for accessing a leased Military base on Red sea,” he said.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is an agreement that has legal force behind it and in this case, both sides are portraying the development as a significant diplomatic move.

However, because Somalia considers Somaliland to be a part of its territory, it has responded angrily to the MoU, announcing the withdrawal of its envoy to Ethiopia.