Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — The British Ambassador to Somalia, Mike Nithavrianakis, has been criticised for a tweet about HALO Trust in which he implied dual sovereignty in the Federal Republic of Somalia. “The UK is proud to support the fantastic work of @TheHALOTrust in Somalia and Somaliland (and elsewhere around the world)” tweeted Michael Nithavrianakis “ Mr. Ambassador, there is no Somalia and Somaliland, just as there’s no UK and East Midlands. This intentional equivocation of sovereignty to parts of Northern Somalia by European Ambassadors must be seriously reprimanded by the Somalia Ministry of Foreign Affairs” tweeted Mursal M. Khaliif, a Federal MP in Mogadishu.
The British diplomat seems to have inadvertently violated diplomatic protocol when his tweet conveyed a complete unfamiliarity with the geopolitical tension triggered by the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding that the Somaliland administration signed with Ethiopia in January 2024. “The UK is concerned by escalating tensions in 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 Post, 2024
