Farmaajo is not welcome to a republic that he does not recognize

Farmaajo is not welcome to a republic that he does not recognize. However, the million-dollar question is why is Abiye Ahmed of Ethiopia insisting on bringing Farmaajo to Hargeisa. According to some press sources the UAE who supports the new Ethiopia and also engaged in the expansion of Berbera port in Somaliland intends to consolidate their influence in the Horn of Africa.

The oil rich Emirate has a vision of controlling the horn in the same manner they do in Yemen. This vision requires getting rid of the presence of Qatar and Turkey in the region and also punishing Djibouti for its expulsion of DP World from Dorale Port. Therefore, Abiye Ahmed is merely broker of the UAE who are supporting Ethiopia financially, including some 3 billion dollars they have deposited in the Ethiopians Central Bank in 2018.
On his part, Abiye Ahmed also intends to put hands on the regional ports and get maritime access for the land locked 100 Ethiopian people. It is therefore quite obvious that the stakes are quite and the players are strong vs the unrecognized financially insolvent Somaliland and its leadership.

But the Ethiopian leader should remember that political question that won him the Noble Prize and his world renounced fruitful visit to Eritrea was possible only and only after he agreed to secede the territory in dispute to Eritrea. The president of Eritrea would NOT have accepted Abiye Ahmed visit to Asmara if Ethiopia did not first recognize the sovereignty of Eritrea over the disputed land.

In this context, Mr Abiye should remember that the bone of contention between Somaliland and Somalia and the core dispute in the Somali peninsular is the impendence of Somaliland with its internationally recognized borders following the independence that it has gained from Great Britain on 26 June 1960.

In the absence of full recognition of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Somaliland any rapprochement or even mere cordial relationship between Hargeisa and Mogadishu is a dead-end and none-starter.

Hassan Abdi Yousuf
Geopolitical Analyst
Hargeisa, Somaliland