Why Somalia drew a line with the UAE

The decision to annul UAE agreements was not abrupt or reckless, but a necessary assertion of sovereignty, constitutional order and national unity.State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Somalia" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="11498" data-entity-type="location">Federal Republic of Somalia.Published On 14 Jan 2026By any objective measure, the decision taken by Somalia’s Cabinet on January 12 to annul all agreements with the United Arab Emirates was neither abrupt nor reckless. It came after prolonged restraint, repeated diplomatic engagement, and a sober assessment of what any responsible government is ultimately obliged to defend: its sovereignty, constitutional order, and national unity.For years, Somalia pursued cooperation with external partners in good faith, guided by the expectation that engagement would be based on mutual respect, positive collaboration and the pursuit of a win-win prosperous future. The Somali government’s patience was not infinite nor unconditional. When international cooperation begins to bypass constitutional institutions, fragment national authority, and distort internal political balances, it ceases to be partnership and becomes illegal interference.At its core, sovereignty is not an empty slogan; it is a system. It means that political, security, and economic relations with foreign states must flow through a country’s recognised national institutions. When parallel arrangements emerge, direct dealings with sub-national entities, security cooperation outside federal oversight, or agreements concluded without national consent, the integrity of the state is gradually eroded. Somalia experienced precisely this pattern over an extended period with the UAE engagement in the country. Therefore, our national decision on the UAE agreements was not a rejection of positive bilateral engagement, nor an abandonment of diplomacy: It was an affirmation of boundaries in line with international law.