The UN Security Council has an emergency meeting over Israel’s controversial Recognition of Somaliland announced as an independent state. The Somali government, which will assume the rotating presidency of the United Nations body in a few days, spoke of a “deliberate” and “unlawful” attack by Israel on the country’s sovereignty.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting in New York, 21 predominantly Muslim countries warned in a joint statement of “serious consequences” of Israel’s unprecedented actions for “peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea” and for international security. The move violates international law, according to the text published by Qatar.
The European Union reaffirmed the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia”. These are also in the charters of the African Union (AU) and the U.N. set, said EU foreign policy spokesman Anouar El Anouni. Somalia’s unity is the “key to peace and stability throughout the region,” he said.
Syria condemned the move as a “clear violation of international law and the UN Charter.” Recognition of Somaliland as an independent state threatens “sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity” Somaliasaid a statement from the Syrian Foreign Ministry published by the state agency Sana.
Minister denies connection to Gaza war
On Friday, Israel became the first country in the world to recognize the breakaway region of Somaliland as a sovereign state. Somaliland, a Muslim region in northern Somalia with just a few million inhabitants, has been virtually independent for more than three decades. The African Unionthe Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and Turkey immediately criticized the move.
Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Abdirahman Dahir Adam told Israel’s Channel 12 television that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign state had nothing to do with the Gaza conflict. Israeli media had previously reported that Israel might want the territory for the Resettlement from Palestinians to use. She had that too AP news agency reported in March.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the move was made “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.” US President Donald Trump launched these agreements in 2020 during his first term in office. As a result, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan normalized their relations with Israel.
As the Times of Israel reported, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco are not among the signatories of the joint declaration by the 21 predominantly Muslim countries.
The autonomous region of Somaliland, which is part of Somalia, declared itself independent at the start of the civil war in 1991. However, the move is not recognized by the government in Mogadishu or internationally. In contrast to Somalia, which has been rocked by crises and attacks for decades, Somaliland is characterized by relative stability.
