Somaliland has rejected a statement by Somalia’s foreign ministry on a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Somaliland and Ethiopia.
The Mou, which envisioned Ethiopia getting access to Somaliland’s coast, has been rejected by the government in Mogadishu as a violation of Somalia’s territorial integrity.
“The understanding between Somaliland and Ethiopia is rooted in mutual respect and a joint aspiration for regional stability. Somalia’s unilateral declaration of the MoU as unlawful blatantly breaches international law and exhibits its ongoing disregard for the self-determination of Somaliland’s people,” Somaliland’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, February 11.
“The MoU upholds the territorial integrity of all nations involved and fosters peaceful cohabitation and regional collaboration. We call on Somalia to relinquish its obsolete assertions and honor the desires and future prospects of millions of Somalilanders,” it added.
The statement came hours after Somalia’s foreign ministry called on member states of the African Union and the United Nations to take “a principled position on the illegal MOU and denounce Ethiopia’s unwarranted aggression against Somalia’s sacrosanct sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity”.
The agreement, inked between Somaliland and Ethiopia on January 1, has led to heightened tensions in the Horn of Africa.
Several countries have called on Ethiopia and Somalia to deescalate the tensions and respect other other’s territorial integrity.
