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The European Union is pressing for the resumption of talks between Somalia and Somaliland.
The EU Ambassador to Somalia, Nicolas Berlanga, held video conference conversations with Somaliland President Muse Bihi, where he expressed the EU’s unwavering commitment to assist in that process.
Berlanga alluded to the talks between Somaliland and Somalia, drawing parallels with the experience of the European Union.
Ambassador Berlanga urged Somaliland to work to reach agreements to solve the problem of its citizens and fulfill its aspirations.
The envoy to Somalia emphasized the strong ties between the parties and their commitment to fostering relations with Somaliland.
Somaliland’s planning minister was part of the video conference on celebrating Europe Day 2020.
The ambassador’s comments join the chorus of voices from the international community pushing for talks between Somaliland and Somalia.
Last July, Somaliland withdrew from talks with Somalia in protest against the new commission appointed by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo that included the former president’s son-in-law, Siad Barre.
Somaliland opposes the appointment of General Abdirahman Hussein Guulwade, which recalls the massacre of members of the Isaaq Clan in the 1980s during Barre’s reign.
General Guulwade, a former police commissioner, who fled with Barre during the popular uprising in Mogadishu in January 1991, was deputy director of the six-member national commission for reconciliation dialogue with Somaliland.
Somaliland canceled its participation in similar talks in March this year after a dispute with the Federal Government over the port of Berbera.
Sweden, Turkey, Ethiopia, Djibouti and EU Member States are actively fighting for the opportunity to hold talks on the unity of the Horn of Africa country.
Somaliland, which declared its unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, has been seeking international recognition.
According to a report by the International Crisis Group last year, tensions between Somalia and Somaliland remain high.
The core of the dispute remains the political state of Somaliland in light of its 1991 declaration of independence, which Somalia rejects.
“Somaliland’s agreement with an Emirati conglomerate and Ethiopia to manage the port of Berbera, which Mogadishu saw as a challenge to its claim to sovereignty there, deepened the antagonism,” the report states.
However, the report says friction eased in 2019, and external pressure has created some momentum for renewed negotiations between the two sides, which last met to speak in 2015.
Given the high levels of suspicion between Somalia and Somaliland, international mediation will be crucial to achieve progress, but roles must be carefully assigned.
“While Turkey and Ethiopia have been diplomatically very active in both Mogadishu and Hargeisa, neither is in an ideal position to play the leading role.
“Turkey’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, which also has deep interests in both Somalia and Somaliland, is too strained.
“And despite the recent improvement in Ethiopia’s ties to the Farmajo administration, it has historically enjoyed too close a relationship with Somaliland for Mogadishu to fully trust it,” added the report by the International Crisis Group.
The report says the most promising approach could be for the African Union to convene the talks, request an eminent statesman to lead the talks, and request technical assistance from a “group of friends” that could include countries like Turkey, Ethiopia, Sweden and Switzerland, They have been at the forefront of efforts to encourage the talks, as well as the European Union.
BY ODINDO AYIEKO
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