Foreign relations of Liberia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liberian foreign relations were traditionally stable and cordial throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries, with a significant relationship with the United States, sharing close relations until the 1970s.[1]

Stabilization in the 21st century brought a return to cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. Liberia holds diplomatic relations with many western nations, including its long time partner the United States, as well as Russia, Cuba, and the People's Republic of China.

Diplomatic relations

List of countries with which Liberia maintains diplomatic relations:

More information #, Country ...
# Country Date
1 United Kingdom 1 August 1849[2]
2 France 20 April 1852[3]
3 United States 23 February 1864[4]
4 Belgium 5 June 1867[5]
— Holy See 15 December 1927[6]
5 Chile 19 July 1945[7]
6 Netherlands 3 May 1949[8]
7 Spain 15 May 1950[9]
8 Lebanon 1 January 1951[10]
9 Italy 5 October 1951[11]
10 Haiti 8 July 1952[12]
11 Germany 23 July 1953[13]
12 Ghana June 1957[14]
13 Israel 22 August 1957[15]
14 Tunisia 1957[16]
15 Ethiopia 4 June 1958[17]
16 Sweden 6 June 1958[18]
17 Egypt 11 June 1958[19]
18 Turkey 1 August 1958[20]
19 Dominican Republic 18 December 1958[21]
20 Guinea 6 March 1959[22]
21 Serbia 15 September 1959[23]
— Sovereign Military Order of Malta 1959[24]
22 Argentina 8 January 1960[25]
23 Morocco 5 April 1960[26]
24 Democratic Republic of the Congo 30 June 1960[27]
25 India 7 July 1960[28]
26  Switzerland 19 July 1960[29]
27 Togo 29 July 1960[30]
28 Nigeria 1 October 1960[31]
29 Mali 14 October 1960[32]
30 Cameroon 23 November 1960[33]
31 Luxembourg 20 January 1961[34]
32 Ivory Coast 31 July 1961[35]
33 Japan September 1961[36]
34 Sierra Leone 8 June 1962[37]
35 Sudan 8 August 1962[38]
36 Senegal 1962[39]
37 Austria 25 June 1963[40]
38 Denmark 11 July 1963[41]
39 Benin 1963[42]
40 Burkina Faso 1963[42]
41 Niger 1963[42]
42 South Korea 18 March 1964[43]
43 Kenya 21 May 1964[44]
44 Norway 17 February 1965[45]
45 Venezuela 16 March 1965[46]
46 Gambia 3 November 1965[47]
47 Trinidad and Tobago 6 December 1965[48]
48 Indonesia 1965[49]
49 Tanzania 27 May 1966[50]
50 Thailand 2 February 1967[51]
51 Mauritania 13 March 1967[52]
52 Uganda 5 April 1967[53]
53 Lesotho 20 October 1968[54]
54 Pakistan 1969[55][56]
55 Finland 24 March 1970[57]
56 Central African Republic 5 May 1970[58]
57 Canada 24 February 1971[59]
58 Algeria 31 December 1971[60]
59 Kuwait 1971[61]
60 Zambia 3 April 1972[62]
61 Romania 30 April 1972[63]
62 Russia 7 June 1972[64]
63 Poland 30 May 1973[65]
64 Czech Republic 15 October 1973[66]
65 North Korea 20 December 1973[67]
66 Guinea-Bissau 20 February 1974[68]
67 Saudi Arabia 30 March 1974[69]
68 Libya 1 April 1974[70]
69 Cuba 19 April 1974[71]
70 Philippines 20 May 1974[72]
71 Greece 29 May 1974[73]
72 Bangladesh 19 August 1974[74]
73 Bulgaria 1 November 1974[75]
74 Guyana 11 November 1974[76]
75 Portugal 19 March 1975[77]
76 Iran 2 June 1975[78]
77 Gabon 17 June 1975[79]
78 Cape Verde 27 July 1975[80]
79 Mongolia 23 April 1976[81]
80 Brazil 8 June 1976[82]
81 Mexico 22 June 1976[83]
82 Hungary 15 July 1976[84]
83 China 17 February 1977[85]
84 Republic of the Congo 10 August 1979[86]
85 Ecuador 31 March 1980[87]
86 Equatorial Guinea 1980[88]
87 Iraq 1980[88]
88 Somalia 1980[88]
89 Zimbabwe 15 October 1982[89]
90 Singapore 7 January 1987[90]
91 Colombia 28 September 1988[87]
92 Namibia 28 April 1990[91]
93 Slovenia 30 March 1993[92]
94 Azerbaijan 22 May 1996[93]
95 South Africa 10 January 1997[94]
96 Malaysia 1997[95]
97 Slovakia 6 March 1998[87]
98 Ukraine 24 September 1998[87]
99 Cyprus 30 November 2000[87]
100 Ireland 2004[96]
101 Iceland 28 November 2006[87]
102 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2 May 2007[87]
103 Uruguay 1 June 2007[87]
104 Estonia 28 June 2007[97]
105 Jordan 10 December 2007[98]
106 Malta 20 May 2008[87]
107 Australia 26 September 2008[87]
108 Mozambique 17 December 2008[99]
109 Malawi 26 February 2009[100]
110 United Arab Emirates 6 May 2009[101]
111 Sri Lanka 17 July 2009[102]
112 Qatar 3 November 2009[103]
113 Angola 3 December 2009[104]
114 Bosnia and Herzegovina 23 February 2010[87]
115 Georgia 4 March 2010[87]
116 Botswana 21 September 2010[105]
117 Tuvalu 28 August 2012[106]
118 Fiji 15 November 2012[87]
119 Montenegro 4 April 2014[87]
120 Latvia 10 April 2014[87]
121 Lithuania 23 April 2014[87]
122 New Zealand 26 August 2014[107]
123 Belarus 27 April 2016[87]
124 Kazakhstan 27 April 2016[87]
125 Kyrgyzstan 17 June 2016[108]
126 Vietnam 28 June 2016[109]
127 Laos 12 August 2016[110]
128 Myanmar 5 May 2017[111]
129 Rwanda 16 May 2017[112]
130   Nepal 17 August 2017[87]
131 Armenia 22 September 2017[113]
— Kosovo 27 May 2018[114]
132 Burundi 22 January 2020[115]
133 Tajikistan 21 September 2022[87]
134 Jamaica 22 September 2022[87]
135 Barbados 27 February 2024[116]
136 Bahrain 26 September 2024[87]
137 Croatia 26 September 2024[87]
138 Uzbekistan 26 September 2024[117]
139 Bolivia 2024[118]
140 Seychelles 13 February 2026[119]
141 Monaco 10 March 2026[120]
142 Costa Rica Unknown[121]
143 South Sudan Unknown[122]
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Bilateral relations

Africa

More information Country, Formal Relations Began ...
Country Formal Relations Began Notes
Guinea6 March 1959

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 March 1959 when Mr. Edward Peal, the Liberian Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea, presented his credentials to President S. Toure.[22]

The First Liberian Civil War, instigated by Charles Taylor and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) on December 24, 1989, eventually spread to neighboring Sierra Leone in 1991 when dissidents of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, began using Liberia as a staging ground for NPFL backed military assaults on border towns in Sierra Leone.[123][124][125]

By 1992, 120,000 people had fled from Sierra Leone to Guinea due to the RUF's practice of targeting civilians. In 2001, Liberian forces along with the RUF began attacking and burning refugee camps and Guinean villages along the border. In an inflammatory speech the Guinean president Lansana Conté, blamed the refugees for the border destabilization and alleged that the vast majority of refugees were rebels.[123]

He called for the Guinean population to defend its nation. This call precipitated attacks, beatings, rapes, and abductions of refugees by Guinean police and military forces. This reversal of Guinea's previously open policy towards refugees, further escalated the refugee crisis as refugees attempted to cross back through RUF territory.[124] By 2002, the United Nations estimated that three million people, or one in five people of the Mano River Union countries, were displaced.[125][126]

  • Guinea has an embassy in Monrovia.
  • Liberia has an embassy in Conakry.
Libya1 April 1974See Liberia–Libya relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 April 1974.[70]

Liberia's relationship with Libya has been characterized by Muammar Gaddafi's attempts at bringing Liberia under greater Libyan influence. Relations under the Doe administration were poor, owing to efforts by the United States to undermine Gaddafi's leverage, and Doe's cynicism of the Libyan leader's intentions. Gaddafi financially and militarily backed rebel leader Charles Taylor, under whose regime Liberia sought closer relations with Libya. After Taylor was ousted in 2003, Liberia continued to maintain diplomatic relations with Libya, only severing them after the onset of the Libyan Civil War, and just recently reestablishing them.

Namibia28 April 1990

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 April 1990[91]

In 1960, Liberia and Ethiopia brought litigation against apartheid South Africa in the International Court of Justice to end its illegal occupation of Namibia.[127] As part of Liberia's support for Namibia's liberation struggle, many Namibian students received Liberian passports which helped them study abroad.

As of July 2008, a total of 5,900 Namibia Defence Force troops had been rotated through Liberia as part of the United Nations Mission in Liberia.[128] Namibia maintained a battalion of about 800 personnel in Grand Cape Mount county for several years, for most of the period part of UNMIL Sector 2, headquartered at Tubmanburg. In May 2005, Namibian troops were accused of sexual exploitation of young girls and women; three Namibian soldiers were sent home from the force after a United Nations investigation found them guilty of "engaging in sexual activity with civilians", which is against United Nations rules for peacekeepers.[129]

  • Liberia is accredited to Namibia from its embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.
  • Namibia is accredited to Liberia from its high commission in Abuja, Nigeria.
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
  • Liberia began recognizing the SADR on 31 July 1985.[130]
  • Liberia revoked its recognition in September 1997.[130]
  • By 2012, Liberia had re-established relations with the SADR.[131]
Sierra Leone8 June 1962

See Liberia-Sierra Leone relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 June 1962 when has been appointed first ambassador of Liberia to Sierra Leone Mr. Henry B. Fahnbulleh.[37]

The First Liberian Civil War, instigated by Charles Taylor and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) on December 24, 1989, eventually spread to neighboring Sierra Leone in 1991 when dissidents of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, began using Liberia as a staging ground for NPFL backed military assaults on border towns in Sierra Leone.[123][124][125] Guinea and Sierra Leone have accused Liberia of backing rebels who have devastated their countries.[123]

  • Liberia has an embassy in Freetown.
  • Sierra Leone has an embassy in Monrovia.
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Americas

More information Country, Formal Relations Began ...
Country Formal Relations Began Notes
Haiti29 June 1952Both countries established diplomatic relations on 29 June 1952.[132]
  • Haiti and Liberia recognized each other in 1864.[133]
  • The two countries established treaties of friendship and commerce the same year.[133]
Mexico22 June 1976Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 June 1976[83]
  • Liberia is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States.[134]
  • Mexico is accredited to Liberia from its embassy in Accra, Ghana.
United States23 February 1864Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 February 1864[4]

See Liberia–United States relations

U.S. relations with Liberia date back to 1819 when the US Congress appropriated $100,000 for the establishment of Liberia.[135] After official US recognition of Liberia in 1862, the two nations shared very close ties until strains in the 1970s due to Liberia's establishment of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries.[136]

During the 1980s, the United States forged especially close ties with Liberia as part of a Cold War effort to suppress socialist and Marxist movements in Africa. Liberia received between $500 million and $1.3 billion during the 1980s from the United States government.[137]

The rise of Charles Taylor's government, the Liberian Civil War, regional instability and human rights abuses interrupted the previously close relations between Liberia and the United States. The United States cut direct financial and military aid to the Liberian government, withdrew Peace Corps operations, imposed a travel ban on senior Liberian Government officials, and frequently criticized Charles Taylor's government.[135][138] Due to intense pressure from the international community and the United States, Charles Taylor resigned his office on August 11, 2003.[136]

The resignation and exile of Charles Taylor in 2003 brought changes in diplomatic ties between the United States and Liberia. The United States proposed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution to authorize the deployment of a multi-national stabilization force,[139][140] and 200 marines as well as warships were sent to Monrovia's airport to support the peace-keeping effort.[141] The United States committed $1.16 billion to Liberia between 2004 and 2006.[135][142] In 2009, A 17.5 million dollar contract to support elections was offered to Liberia with International Foundation for Electoral Systems as the conduit.[143] This money is meant to support the presidential election of 2011 and the general election of 2014.[143]

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Asia

More information Country, Formal Relations Began ...
Country Formal Relations Began Notes
China17 February 1977See China–Liberia relations

Relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Liberia have been broken and reestablished several times since February 17, 1977, when diplomatic relations between the PRC and Liberia were first formed.[144] The PRC broke off relations with Liberia on October 10, 1989, in response to Liberia's recognition of the Republic of China (Taiwan).[145]

Taiwan had offered $200 million in aid to Liberia for education and infrastructure in exchange for this recognition. The PRC reestablished relations with Liberia on August 10, 1993, and opened an embassy in Monrovia, making Liberia one of the few nations with established diplomatic ties to both the PRC and ROC.[146] In 1997, Charles Taylor's government proclaimed to recognize "two Chinas" and the PRC subsequently severed diplomatic relations.[147]

Liberia dropped diplomatic relations with the ROC on October 12, 2003, and reestablished ties with the People's Republic of China.[148] This move was seen largely as a result of the PRC's lobbying in the UN and plans to deploy a peacekeeping force in Liberia.[149]

India7 July 1960See India–Liberia relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 July 1960[28]

Indian-Liberian relations have traditionally been strong and cordial with Liberia's full-fledged support for India's stand on Kashmir and India's aspiration for permanent membership on the United Nations Security Council. In recent years, both nations have developed close and extensive cooperation in trade, military and strategic fields.

Amidst India's growing role in Liberia, the Liberian Minister of Mines and Energy, Dr. Eugene Shannon visited India in October 2005 to participate in the Confederation of Indian Industry-Africa Conclave. In 2008, the President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was invited to visit India.[150] Major items of Indian exports include engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, two wheelers, transportation equipment, steel and plastic products. Major items of imports are gold, diamonds, timber and metal scrap. Following lifting of United Nations sanctions, timber concessions have been awarded to Indian firms. Overall, Indian investments in Liberia have been increased from US$450 million in 2005 to an estimated $2 billion in 2009.

Iran 2 June 1975 Both countries established diplomatic relations on 2 June 1975[78] In 2023, an Iranian drone struck the Liberian flagged chemical tanker Chem Pluto.[153][154]
Israel22 August 1957See Israel–Liberia relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 August 1957.[15]

  • Liberia and Israel established ties in 1957 with the accreditation of Israeli ambassador Ehud Avriel.[155]
  • Liberia severed ties with Israel over the Yom Kippur War in 1973.[156]
  • Relations are re-established in 1983.[157]
  • On 8 June 2022, Liberia announced its plans to open a trade office in Jerusalem, which is to become an embassy.[157]
JapanSeptember 1961
  • Both countries established diplomatic relations in September 1961
  • Liberia is accredited to New Zealand from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan.[158]
South Korea18 March 1964

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 18 March 1964[43]

In 2001 Bilateral Trade were Exports $7,350,000,000 (Ships, Automobile) Imports $1,270,000 (Used Ships, Mineral Fuel).[159]

Turkey1 August 1958See Liberia–Turkey relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 1 August 1958[20]

Vietnam28 June 2016Both countries established diplomatic relations on 28 June 2016[109]
  • Liberia is accredited to Vietnam through its embassy in Beijing, China.[161]
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Europe

More information Country, Formal Relations Began ...
Country Formal Relations Began Notes
France20 April 1852See France–Liberia relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 April 1852[3]

  • France recognized Liberia in 1852.[162]
  • France has an embassy in Monrovia.
  • Liberia has an embassy in Paris.
Germany 23 July 1953 See Germany–Liberia relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 23 July 1953.[13] Liberia had been recognized by countries which would merge into Germany, such as Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg in 1855.[162]

  • Liberia has an embassy in Berlin.
  • Germany has an embassy in Monrovia.[163]
Netherlands3 May 1949Both countries established diplomatic relations on 3 May 1949.[8]

27 March 1936 has been accredited Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Liberia to the Netherlands Baron Otto van den Bogaerde van Terbrugge.[164]

  • The Netherlands recognized Liberia in 1862.[162]
  • The two countries signed a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation on 20 December 1862.[165]
Russia7 June 1972

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 June 1972.[64]

Liberia and Russia resumed bilateral relations in March 2010 and cited a recent exploration of mine by a Russian company as a sign of future trade relations.[166]

Spain15 May 1950See Liberia–Spain relations

Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 May 1950[9]

  • Liberia is accredited to Spain from its embassy in Paris, France.
  • Spain is accredited to Liberia from its embassy in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
United Kingdom1 August 1849See Liberia–United Kingdom relations
British Prime Minister David Cameron with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in London, November 2012.

Liberia established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 1 August 1849.[2][failed verification]

  • Liberia maintains an embassy in London.[167]
  • The United Kingdom is accredited to Liberia through its embassy in Monrovia.[168]

Both countries share common membership of the Atlantic Co-operation Pact,[169] the International Criminal Court, the United Nations, and the World Trade Organization. Bilaterally the two countries have a Development Partnership.[170] and a Tax Information Exchange Agreement.[171]

The UK was amongst the first countries to recognise the new republic. After the visit to the UK in 1848 of President Roberts, Queen Victoria put the Royal Navy ship HMS Amazon at the disposal of him and his family, for his return journey to Liberia.[172]

In 1961, Queen Elizabeth II made a state visit to Liberia, arriving at Monrovia on the HMY Britannia.[173] President Tubman made a gift of two Pygmy hippopotamus, which arrived by cargo ship in 1962 and were sent to Whipsnade Zoo.[174]

In 1962, President Tubman and his wife visited the UK.[175]

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Diplomatic Agreements

Liberia is a founding member of the United Nations (see Permanent Representative of Liberia to the United Nations) and its specialized agencies and is a member of the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Development Bank (ADB), Mano River Union (MRU) and the Non-Aligned Movement. Liberia is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a Bilateral Immunity Agreement of protection for the US-military (as covered under Article 98).[135][176]

See also

References

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