Itsnotthateasy
VIP
Trouble looks to be brewing in Somalia. The country is fractured politically, Al-Shabaab’s insurgency is back on the attack and foreign partners are questioning the wisdom of continuing to pump money into the dysfunctional federal system based in the capital Mogadishu.
The EU and its member states can help Somalia by:
- Pressing Mogadishu to reach an agreement with the political opposition and federal member states over a framework for the 2026 polls, conducting shuttle diplomacy jointly with the AU and UN and preparing to mediate together if necessary;
- Announcing its contribution to AUSSOM in 2025 by the AU-EU summit in November and fast-tracking support for 2026 ahead of a conference Brussels is planning on Somalia early in the year, while revamping its security assistance missions under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) to better plug gaps in Somali security capabilities;
- Assessing the shortcomings of the Somalia-EU roadmap, which the two sides committed to in 2023, and preparing a revised version that emphasises the need to address underlying political barriers to stability. As part of this effort, Brussels should press for sustained talks between the federal government and Puntland to bridge differences over how the country’s system of federalism should work.