Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is to pay a visit to Ethiopia on Saturday, a good sign that bilateral relations have now improved following nearly a year of tensions over plans by Ethiopia to construct a naval base at Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland. The visit will come after both countries agreed in December to settle their differences and the technical negotiations by February.
In Ethiopia, President Mohamud will hold talks with leaders of the Ethiopian nation to “strengthen bilateral relations and advance shared priorities.” The visit is following Ethiopia’s defense minister visiting Mogadishu on January 2, the first bilateral visit since tensions increased.
Relations soured in January of the previous year after Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, allowing the lease of a coastline for a naval base. Somalia saw this as an incursion into its territorial integrity, and this led to threats to expel Ethiopian peacekeepers and strengthened relations with Egypt and Eritrea. However, after months of rising tensions and failed international mediation, both countries agreed to resolve the issue through dialogue, with the visit being a follow-up to the agreement reached during talks in Turkey.
