Somalia will not accept any mediation efforts from third parties to normalize relations with Ethiopia unless Addis Ababa revokes its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the breakaway region of Somaliland, the Somali Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"Somalia's sovereignty and territorial integrity have been violated by Ethiopia when it signed an illegal MOU with the northern region (Somaliland Administration) in Somalia ... For that reason, there is no space for mediation unless Ethiopia retracts its illegal MOU," the Somali Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Somalia collapsed as a unified nation in 1991 with the downfall of Siad Barre's dictatorship. The international community recognized the Mogadishu-based federal government as the only legitimate authority in Somalia, while chunks of the country in the north and east remain under the control of self-proclaimed and unrecognized Somaliland and Puntland.