France, Germany reinstate diplomatic presence in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Germany and France have joined the western countries reestablishing their long absence diplomatic presence in Somalia as the Horn of Africa country is recovering decades-long bloody conflict, Garowe Online reports.

Somali president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, received at his office in the state house in Mogadishu the credentials of the new Ambassadors of France and Germany Aline Kuster-Menager and Annett Günther respectively on Sunday.

In a statement released by the presidency, Farmajo welcomed the new ambassadors and wished them success in their missions and relations between Somalia and their respective countries further progress and prosperity.

French Ambassador Aline Kuster-Menager expressed her gratitude for his welcome and good wishes, stressing that she would exert maximum efforts to raise the Somali-French friendly relations to a qualitatively new level.

During the meeting, the trio sides discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations and cooperation between their nations and means of enhancing them to serve the common interests of the two friendly countries and peoples.

In the past few years, a number of countries, including UAE, Turkey, UK, U.S. and Qatar have reopened their embassies in Mogadishu after the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab extremist group was pushed out of the city and its surroundings in 2011.

Somalia’s is currently struggling to make a diplomatic come back across the world after more than two decades of war which shattered the country’s diplomatic and economic relations with other countries.

GAROWE ONLINE