{"id":6699,"date":"2026-06-08T16:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:58:26","slug":"somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access","title":{"rendered":"Somaliland Backs Ethiopia Sea Access"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>The Foreign Minister of Somaliland, Abdirahman Tahir Adam &#8220;Bakal,&#8221; stated that Ethiopia has the right to access a seaport, noting that Somaliland is ready to discuss these needs with the Ethiopian government.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with a local source, the minister said that Somaliland fully understands Ethiopia&#8217;s need for a maritime corridor and port, and that it is always ready for dialogue on these issues.<\/p>\n<p>The minister added, &#8220;We are prepared to discuss the needs of the Ethiopian government regarding the port or maritime corridor. We understand their needs; they are our brothers, and if there is a way to assist them, we are fully prepared.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bakal also affirmed that the relationship between Somaliland and Ethiopia is historical and growing stronger, describing Ethiopia as the closest friend and ally of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa.<\/p>\n<p>He confirmed that the Port of Berbera and the trade corridor linking his region to Ethiopia are still ready for full use by Ethiopia, pointing out that the port&#8217;s capacity has not yet been fully utilized.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking about the memorandum of understanding signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia in January 2024, he stated that the government has not made any changes to its policy towards Ethiopia and is ready for any dialogue that serves the interests of both parties.<\/p>\n<p>The minister expressed hope that Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland in the future, emphasizing that Somaliland has not exerted any pressure on Addis Ababa. He clarified that Ethiopia will eventually realize that Somaliland is a stable and peaceful country, a reliable partner.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, he confirmed that Somaliland does not host foreign troops, noting that its border with Ethiopia is one of the safest in the region.<\/p>\n<p>In the interview, he also criticized the Somali federal government, asserting that Somaliland is an independent state, while describing Somalia as a country that has long suffered from instability and insecurity.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the Foreign Minister of Somaliland called on the African Union and regional countries to seriously consider the issue of Somaliland, stating that the reality on the ground shows that Somaliland is a stable country deserving of cooperation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. The Foreign Minister of Somaliland, Abdirahman Tahir Adam &#8220;Bakal,&#8221; stated that Ethiopia has the right to access a seaport, noting that Somaliland is ready to discuss these needs with the Ethiopian government. In an interview with a local source, the minister said that Somaliland fully understands Ethiopia&#8217;s need for a maritime corridor and port, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-6699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-policy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Somaliland Backs Ethiopia Sea Access - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Foreign Minister of Somaliland, Abdirahman Tahir Adam &quot;Bakal,&quot; stated that Ethiopia has the right\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Somaliland Backs Ethiopia Sea Access\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Foreign Minister of Somaliland, Abdirahman Tahir Adam &quot;Bakal,&quot; stated that Ethiopia has the right\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Africa Press English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T16:09:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T18:58:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/06\/sm_1780944916.881201.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"391\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Somaliland Backs Ethiopia Sea Access\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T16:09:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-08T18:58:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access\"},\"wordCount\":371,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/africa-home\/sites\/69\/2026\/06\/sm_1780944916.881201.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/policy\/somaliland-backs-ethiopia-sea-access\",\"name\":\"Somaliland Backs Ethiopia Sea Access - 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