Somalia And Ethiopia Have Agreed In Accordance With The UNCLOS And Nothing More.
Posted: 12 Dec 2024, 19:50
This is what was agreed:
And this is the guideline of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS):
They agreed to work closely together on commercial arrangements and bilateral agreements that would ensure Ethiopia's "reliable, safe and sustainable access" to the sea "under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia".
And this is the guideline of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS):
This is exactly what Somalia has been offering Ethiopia all along the past year, which is to use Somalia's ports on the terms of UNCLOS. And this agreement in Ankara is offering Ethiopia nothing more than what Somalia has already been offering to Ethiopia.Landlocked states have a general right to access the sea for commercial purposes. The practical application thereof is left to agreements to be entered into between the landlocked state and the transit states involved.
While there is a legal obligation to enter into such agreements, and while there are some considerations provided by UNCLOS, there is no guarantee that the rights of landlocked states are protected. The actual terms to be included in the agreements are left up to the landlocked states to deliberate with their counterparts during the negotiations.
In practice, therefore, the implementation of UNCLOS provisions related to the rights of landlocked states still relies to a significant degree on political will and existing favourable relations between the relevant states.