By Abdullahi Salad - Reporter
Somalia, 14 December 2025 - The European Union (EU) is expected to formally announce funding for the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) in early 2026, after a two-year period in which it refrained from providing direct financial support, according to documents and diplomatic sources linked to the United Nations and the African Union.
An EU spokesperson told The EastAfrican that Brussels remains committed to the continuity of the bloc’s support for the Somalia mission, but said details of the funding package—including the amount, duration, and disbursement mechanism—will be announced once the 27 EU member states reach agreement on the overall package.
“We are committed to ensuring continuity of the European Union’s support. The exact modalities of the support will be announced once the support package is finalised,” the EU spokesperson told The EastAfrican.
Documents related to the United Nations Security Council indicate that the EU is expected to announce funding for AUSSOM in early 2026, a move widely seen as a signal that the bloc may return to its former role as the primary financier of the African Union mission in Somalia.
The AUSSOM mission is facing significant financial pressure after the EU provided no direct funding for its 2025 operations, while the United States earlier opposed the implementation of a UN-assessed contributions funding model, as outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 2719.
The resolution, adopted in 2023, sought to cover 75 percent of AUSSOM’s five-year budget—estimated at $832.5 million—to establish a predictable and sustainable funding mechanism. However, delays in implementing the framework have forced the mission to rely on limited voluntary contributions that fall short of its actual needs.
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AUSSOM’s annual budget is estimated at $166.5 million, but funds mobilised so far remain well below that level.
In 2025, the European Union limited its support to humanitarian assistance, providing €67.33 million, down from €82.16 million in 2024.
Although additional donors have stepped in—including Japan, Korea, and China, which jointly contributed $4.5 million, and Italy and Spain, which each pledged $1 million—the contributions remain insufficient to meet the mission’s financial requirements.
The expected EU decision to fund AUSSOM is widely viewed as a strategic shift from Brussels’ position over the past two years, during which the bloc insisted that any new funding should be contingent on broader and fairer burden-sharing by other international partners.
