Profound political changes are taking place in the Horn of Africa and this part of Africa faces similar challenges as the Sahel region. Transitions in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, South-Sudan and Somalia are interlinked with peace and stability of the whole region. Several countries in the region should hold elections in the near future. Internal tensions has been on the rise and the political violence in the region is linked to the question of ethnicity, centralisation and decentralisation. The Horn of Africa is a stage for geopolitical interest and competion.

Security issues and the repercussions of COVID-19 in the Horn of Africa call for increased cooperation between EU, African Union and UN. The aim of this informal ministerial level discussion was to share views on the current issues of the Horn of Africa and to explore ways of stepping up the engagement of international partners. In his speech, Deputy Minister Povejšil recalled: "Our engagement in the Horn of Africa can only be based on cooperation of mutually engaged partners. Ethiopia has been for long years a priority country for the Czech development cooperation, with an outreach to the neighboring countries." He concluded by speaking: "The Czech Republic will join the current initiative of the IMF for debt relief of Somalia. We believe that other countries will follow this path soon."