An unexpected ally: Eritrea’s path and the new exceptional friendship between Somalia and Eritrea

Eritrea is a long-isolated nation, and it was originally considered that it had nothing to offer to Somalia, a nation rebuilding from a 30-year civil war. Recent trips by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the immediate president of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who previously visited Eritrea and initiated a relationship with Eritrea on many fronts, appear to have altered the situation and made Eritrea a reliable ally. Both Hassan and Farmaajo signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with Eritrea.

President Mohamed Abdullahi visited Eritrea for the first time in 2017. This was the first visit by a Somali president since Eritrea gained independence in 1993. It was at this time that a bilateral diplomatic relationship was established between the two countries, as well as an agreement for thousands of Somali troops to be trained in Eritrea.

There have been a lot of disputes that have arisen from the formal formation of ties between Somalia and Eritrea, which were mostly surrounding the ambitious program