Guinea-Bissau’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday rejected social media reports claiming the West African nation was preparing to recognise Somaliland as an independent state, insisting no such decision has been made or is under consideration.

The clarification matters because it comes just months after Israel became the first country in more than three decades to formally recognise Somaliland, a move the African Union and Somalia’s federal government both denounced as a violation of Somalia’s sovereignty. Any additional recognition, even a rumoured one, carries outsized diplomatic weight for Hargeisa’s decades-long campaign for statehood and for Mogadishu’s efforts to hold the line against it. In its statement, the ministry said it was “denying reports circulating on social media claiming that Guinea-Bissau is considering recognising what is called the ‘Republic of Somaliland.’” Bissau added that its foreign policy rests on respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter and the African Union’s Constitutive Act.

The government was explicit that no formal process is under way. “The Government of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau has not taken, nor is it currently considering, any decision on this matter,” the statement said.

The denial followed a wave of unverified posts overnight claiming Bissau was on the verge of extending recognition to Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has never won broad international acknowledgement.

Somali officials, meanwhile, have previously indicated they would treat any recognition move by an African state as a serious breach of Somalia’s sovereignty.

Somaliland’s government has not commented publicly on the Guinea-Bissau reports. The territory, which maintains its own currency, military and government in Hargeisa, has stepped up its recognition push since Israel’s move in late 2025, a decision that African regional bodies swiftly rejected as contrary to the UN Charter, the AU’s founding act and the IGAD agreement.