Widespread interest in the Horn of Africa: Egypt intensifies coordination to support political solutions
Ambassador Obaida Al-Dandrawi meets with his Ugandan counterpart at the Ethiopian and African Union headquarters.
books- Ziad Abdel Fattah:
The Horn of Africa region has recently witnessed unprecedented widespread attention, having become a key part of the game regional balances It has become at the heart of global events, witnessing rapid political and security developments that have recently taken an upward turn.
In this context, Ambassador Obaida Al-Dandrawi met with Ambassador Arab Republic of Egypt Its permanent representative to the African Union, along with Ambassador Rebecca Amoge Otingo, Uganda’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, and Ambassador Bertrand Cochery, the French special envoy for Sudan and the Horn of Africa.
The meetings came as part of Egypt’s ongoing efforts to enhance consultation and coordination with regional and international partners regarding developments in the Horn of Africa and Sudan, where views were exchanged on the most prominent current challenges and ways to support regional stability and enhance joint cooperation.
Intensifying multilateral coordination to support political solutions to regional crises
The talks addressed mechanisms for intensifying multilateral coordination in order to support political solutions to regional crises and enhance security and peace in the African continent.
The two meetings were attended on the Egyptian side by First Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit and First Secretary Manar El Sheikh.
Geographically, the Horn of Africa extends from the western Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and its name reflects its geographical shape in the form of a «horn.» It includes four main countries: Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. However, from a political and economic perspective, the region expands to include Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.
Egypt's firm stance on the Red Sea waters
Egypt has a firm position on water and the Red Sea, and believes that the governance of the Red Sea should be limited to the littoral states only, according to statements made by Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Aty during meetings he held last week with a number of African Union leaders and prime ministers and foreign ministers of African countries participating in the summit.
Recent developments are creating fertile ground for new conflicts and disputes, whether internal, given the tribal, political, and ethnic complexities plaguing the "countries of the Horn," or in the form of cross-border conflicts, including the possibility of war breaking out between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The initial signs of this potential war are evident in the diplomatic escalation between the two "neighboring" countries and military movements near their shared borders, coinciding with new geopolitical arrangements that extend beyond the region on a wider scale.
