Ethiopia Upgrades Its Consular In Hargeisa to fully fledged embassy, confirms Minister Ali Hassan

By M.A. Egge

Somaliland government has once again reiterated that the implementation of the Somaliland-Ethiopia MoU signed between the two countries on the first day of the first month of this year by the leaders of both nations is on course and at an advanced stage.

The state at the same time has confirmed the upgrading of the Ethiopian consular office in Hargeisa, Somaliland as a full embassy as first disclosed by Somaliland President Musa Bihi Abdi in his address to the nation on the occasion of the national 18th May celebrations.

The elaborative sentiments were made by the Somaliland Minister of Information Culture and National Guidance Ali Hassan Mohamed, alias Ali-Marehaan on Saturday during an interview with BBC Somali Service monitored by the THT.

The minister emphasized that upgrading the Ethiopian representative office in Somaliland to a fully fledged one was officially a piece of bonafide information since it was revealed by none other than the President himself in his speech to the nation during the most important date of the government calendar.

He similarly reiterated that the agreement of the crucial bilateral relations in the said MoU between both countries was right on course and would be implemented duly and in due cause as per procedural international treaties, a fact that he said the Head of State himself addressed in his speech.

Ali made it clear that the latest development in Somaliland-Ethiopia relations is not a new chapter of policies, but indeed, it is the apex of a three-decade old of multi-prong bilateral relations that fledge and bolster even more as time goes hence has concretely solidified.

In responding to prods of queries by the interviewer, the minister was vivid that the government of Mogadishu does not hold any sway over Somaliland and that the charting of the future of the country was not in any way the concern of Somalia at all.

He made it clear that the nation of the Republic of Somaliland had a healthy relation with Ethiopia long before the Mogadishu government built a semblance of governance institutions in their own back-yard.

He similarly pointed out that the Somaliland-Ethiopia border was far much longer than that shared with Somalia hence its bulk of economical, social and security relations has been for eons.

He assured the listeners that Somaliland aspirations were on course as envisioned.