Mogadishu (PP Information Desk) — The British Ambassador to Somalia, Mike Nithavrianakis, has been criticised for a tweet about HALO Belief by which he implied twin sovereignty within the Federal Republic of Somalia. “The UK is proud to assist the implausible work of @TheHALOTrust in Somalia and Somaliland (and elsewhere all over the world)” tweeted Michael Nithavrianakis “ Mr. Ambassador, there isn’t a Somalia and Somaliland, simply as there’s no UK and East Midlands. This intentional equivocation of sovereignty to elements of Northern Somalia by European Ambassadors have to be critically reprimanded by the Somalia Ministry of International Affairs” tweeted Mursal M. Khaliif, a Federal MP in Mogadishu.
The British diplomat appears to have inadvertently violated diplomatic protocol when his tweet conveyed an entire unfamiliarity with the geopolitical rigidity triggered by the unlawful maritime Memorandum of Understanding that the Somaliland administration signed with Ethiopia in January 2024. “The UK is worried by escalating tensions within the Horn of Africa. We reaffirm our full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia” tweeted the British Embassy in Mogadishu on 4 January 2024.
© Puntland Submit, 2024
