LONDON (Somaliguardian) – G7 foreign ministers discussed the “gloomy” situation in the Horn of Africa countries of Somalia and Ethiopia which have been gripped by violence over the past months, in a summit with human rights protection and democracy high on the agenda.
The Group of Seven foreign ministers gathered in London on Tuesday and focused a number of global issues of concern in their discussion, including conflicts in Somalia, Ethiopia and Libya.
Somalia has seen weeks of violence sparked by the outgoing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s bid to stay in power beyond his constitutional term and a move by the parliament to extend the mandates of both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. Tensions have later been eased after Mr Farmajo rolled back the term extension, bowing to pressure from the international community.
In Ethiopia, ethnic violence has gripped the country over the past weeks leading to protests in Amhara region caling for the country’s prime minister Abiy Ahmed to quit if has failed to protect citizens while fighting between Tigray forces and Ethiopian army backed by Eritrean troops still continues in the north.
“It has been a very fruitful and interesting debate. We have been covering all the issues on the today world, the most important problems that we are facing… [including] the problems in Ethiopia, Somalia,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.
“I had the opportunity to talk about the situation in Ethiopia and Somalia, and the Horn of Africa where the situation is gloomy, difficult.”
European Union has suspended budget funds to Somalia’s federal government over failure to hold the election on its due date and use of force to subjugate opposition in arm-twisting efforts, which has unleashed fierce clashes in the capital Mogadishu.
It has similarly cut budget funding to Ethiopia over human rights abuses, including mass killings, gang-rapes and looting of aid committed in Tigray region by allied Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said though tensions in Ethiopia and Somalia showed no sign of abating he was still “optimistic” that a progress could be achieved in those countries.
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