Egypt: Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan Converge As Tensions With Ethiopia Deepen

What the report says

Leaders of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia met in Egypt and issued the El Alamein Joint Declaration, reaffirming opposition to unilateral actions and outside interference in state affairs. The statement also emphasized that Red Sea littoral states should have a role in managing the strategic waterway, underscoring a push for regional control over security and governance issues affecting the coast and nearby routes.

According to the source article republished by AllAfrica from Addis Standard, the summit brought together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan. The leaders also backed international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and called for cooperation over shared water resources, including the Nile. They rejected steps they said could harm existing water uses by Egypt and Sudan, both downstream from Ethiopia.

The gathering comes as each of the four countries has had strained relations with Ethiopia for different reasons. Egypt and Sudan continue to dispute the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, while Sudan and Ethiopia also face border and conflict-related tensions. Somalia’s ties with Addis Ababa have been affected by maritime access issues, and Eritrea’s relations with Ethiopia have sharply worsened after their earlier rapprochement.

The article portrays the alignment as an emerging regional convergence rather than a formal alliance. Its significance lies in the possibility that coordinated positions by four neighboring states could increase diplomatic pressure on Ethiopia at a time of renewed conflict in northern Ethiopia and wider disputes over water, borders and Red Sea access.