“The Republic of Somaliland hereby reiterates its previous position to disregard and not cooperate with the policies, programs and activities of the Arab/ African member states bordering the Red Sea, so long it’s excluded and denied its rightful position among the important stakeholders. Somaliland is a sovereign country and will not delegate its territorial waters to any other country” Somaliland FM Press Statement
Hargeisa, Somaliland (Saxafi Media) – Somaliland government reiterated its previous position to disregard exclusion from the Saudi-driven Council of Arab and African States bordering the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden despite the fact that it has the second-longest coastline along the Gulf of Aden.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation released a press statement on Tuesday declaring that the republic of Somaliland is a sovereign state and will not delegate its territorial waters to any other country.
“Somaliland recognizes the strategic importance of the Red Sea for the peace and security of the region and in principal welcomes the need to develop a common position to protect these waters. Because of that recognition Somaliland has long been committed to safeguarding and ensuring that the territorial waters straddling its 850 KM coastline remains safe and secure from piracy and other forms of terrorism,” the statement said.
“The Republic of Somaliland hereby reiterates its previous position to disregard and not cooperate with the policies, programs and activities of the Arab/ African member states bordering the Red Sea, so long it’s excluded and denied its rightful position among the important stakeholders. Somaliland is a sovereign country and will not delegate its territorial waters to any other country,” the statement emphasized.
Adding that Somaliland will not recognize the formation of any blocs that exclude legitimate stakeholders based on arbitrary, irrelevant or discriminatory or discriminatory criteria.
The statement comes a day after The Council of Arab and African States bordering the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden including Somalia signed the council’s charter in Saudi capital Riyadh.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea, Egypt, the UN-recognized government of Yemen and Jordan also met in Saudi capital Riyadh and discuss opportunities to work together and strategies for securing the two waterways from piracy, smuggling and regional threats.
Read below the full press statement issued by Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation:
“The Republic of Somaliland hereby reiterates its previous position to disregard and not cooperate with the policies, programs and activities of the Arab/ African member states bordering the Red Sea, so long it’s excluded and denied its rightful position among the important stakeholders. Somaliland is a sovereign country and will not delegate its territorial waters to any other country.
Somaliland recognizes the strategic importance of the Red Sea for the peace and security of the region and in principal welcomes the need to develop a common position to protect these waters. Because of that recognition Somaliland has long been committed to safeguarding and ensuring that the territorial waters straddling its 850 KM coastline remains safe and secure from piracy and other forms of terrorism.
We believe that safeguarding the security of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden waters concerns all countries that share these coastal waters, and we support multilateral solutions to our common challenges. However, Somaliland will not recognize the formation of any blocs that exclude legitimate stakeholders based on arbitrary, irrelevant or discriminatory or discriminatory criteria.
Somaliland looks forward to any cooperation that actively contributes to the security and prosperity of this area, without compromising the sovereignty of any country. Somaliland views its peace, and stability and prosperity as intimately tied in to that of the region as a whole, and will continue to work with all stakeholders on all matters and efforts in which shared interests can be pursued in an equal mutually beneficial manner.”
