Summit of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia: What Was Included in the Joint Declaration?

- Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia issued a joint statement on Sunday following a summit in the Egyptian city of El Alamein, addressing issues related to the crises in Sudan, navigation in the Red Sea, the unity of Somalia, as well as the water uses of rivers, particularly the Nile. The meeting was attended by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council in Sudan Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

According to the joint statement published by the Egyptian presidency, the leaders held "intensive consultations on current regional and international issues and ways to enhance political, commercial, and economic cooperation among the four countries, as well as to strengthen consultation and coordination among them." The summit also addressed the "necessity of adhering to the principles and fundamental pillars of international law as the basis for regional stability and cooperation, especially respecting the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the countries in the region, upholding the values of good neighborliness, and rejecting interventions in the internal affairs of the countries in the region under any pretext."

The statement also indicated the leaders' consensus on several issues, including "supporting the unity of the Republic of Sudan, its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national institutions, rejecting the establishment of any parallel entities, encouraging the resumption of the political process with Sudanese ownership and leadership, and supporting national institutions, in addition to the complete rejection of any support for mercenaries." The consensus also included "supporting the unity and sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia, rejecting any intervention or measures targeting its territorial integrity and national sovereignty, and rejecting any recognition or support for what is called Somaliland, as this is considered an infringement on the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia and its territorial integrity."

The leaders also affirmed their "support for the efforts of the Federal Republic of Somalia in combating terrorism, enabling state institutions to assert control over its entire territory, and calling on regional and international partners to provide adequate, sustainable, and predictable funding for the African Union Mission in Support of Stability in Somalia (AUSSOM), which supports the security transition process in Somalia and enables the mission to carry out its mandate in support of the organized transfer of security responsibilities to Somali forces." The quartet also agreed to "emphasize the principle of freedom of navigation and that the governance of the Red Sea is the exclusive responsibility of the coastal states."

They also emphasized "the importance of respecting international law in transboundary rivers, including the Nile River, particularly the principle of not causing harm, and the necessity of cooperation through prior notification, consultation, and consensus, and the complete rejection of any unilateral actions that harm the existing water uses of the Nile River's riparian states." According to the declaration, the leaders "agreed to establish a mechanism to follow up on the outcomes of this consultative summit, which will be held periodically and whenever necessary to enhance consultation and coordination among them."

Ethiopian officials recently accused Egypt, Eritrea, and Sudan of supporting armed opposition factions seeking to overthrow the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which the three countries denied. Addis Ababa announced last Thursday that it had declared a "Egyptian diplomat persona non grata," giving him 48 hours to leave the country, to which Cairo responded with a similar step.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry also announced its intention to close its embassy in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, in response to what it described as "acts of hostility and direct and indirect escalation by Eritrea against Ethiopia," according to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA). For its part, the United States urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise restraint amid tensions between the two countries, warning that this could affect the entire region.

In a statement from the U.S. State Department on Sunday, it stated that "the Horn of Africa cannot bear the consequences of another military conflict or humanitarian crisis," and that "the outbreak of conflict would jeopardize the existing U.S. cooperation with both countries on shared interests." The State Department called on both countries to "respect the sovereignty of their neighbors and their territorial integrity, exercise maximum restraint, and return to dialogue and cooperation in accordance with what was agreed upon in the peace agreement between them in 2018."