“This is certainly an important stage in the stabilisation of Somalia, and we are very pleased about it”. Minister for Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino commented from Paris on the news from Addis Ababa on the conclusion of an accord between the Somali Federal Government and the Jubaland administration, reached under the auspices of the Ethiopian President of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the regional organization representing the countries of the Horn of Africa.
“Naturally, it’s not enough to have an accord”, Bonino underscored, “what will count in calming the tensions of recent months in the southern Somali regions, will be its concrete application. We now expect”, she concluded, “that the parties concerned continue in this spirit of collaboration to foster the accord’s rapid implementation among their respective supporters”.
Italy has been closely monitoring the situation in Somalia, now at a crucial juncture with this agreement, which was made possible thanks, not least, to the considerable personal commitment of Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Lapo Pistelli, who followed the negotiations, recently returned from a mission to the Horn of Africa (Uganda, Kenya and Djibouti) where the purpose of his meetings and contacts included support for Somali stabilisation.
As Co-President of the IGAD Partners Forum (IPF), Italy participated in the ceremony for the signing of the Addis Ababa agreement. It is a major sign of acknowledgement that, in the margins of the upcoming UN General Assembly, our country will join Ethiopia in co-chairing a Forum ministerial meeting intended to voice both the Partners’ political backing for IGAD’s role in the stabilisation of Somalia as well as their lasting support for the Somali authorities.
