After the concluding of the fourth and
final round of negotiations on GERD in Addis Ababa
Which was launched to expedite the
finalization of an agreement on the rules of filling and operation of the GERD
within four months
Egypt will closely monitor the filling and operation of the GERD and reserves its right, in accordance with international charters and accords, to defend its water and national security in the event of harm
In his speech at the 160th session of
the Arab League Council at the ministerial level, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh
Shoukry asserted that Ethiopia has showed no intention to accept one of the
available middle solutions that would fulfil the interests of Egypt, Sudan and
Ethiopia with regard to the dam issue
Egypt and Sudan have urged Ethiopia
repeatedly to sign a legally-binding agreement on GERD, which would protect
their water rights and people’s interests
The two downstream countries have warned
against unilateral practices with regard to GERD, affirming the need for
reaching the agreement before Addis Ababa can resume the filling and operation
of the mega dam
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Ethiopian official statements on the completion of the fourth filling of the Grand Renaissance Dam, stipulating that the measure is a continuous breach of the Declaration of Principles signed by the two countries along with Sudan in 2015
The declaration provides the necessity
of congruence among the three countries on the filling and operation processes
“Ethiopia’s unilateral measures are a
disregard to the interests and rights of the two downstream states as well as
their water security protected by international law,” the ministry said.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are at
loggerheads over the $4-billion dam; Cairo voiced concern over its water share
[55.5 billion cubic meters] after Ethiopia started building the dam on the Blue
Nile in May 2011
31 May 2022: In a TV interview with Al
Arabiyah Monday, General Manager of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
Kifle Horo confirmed the fears of Egypt and Sudan about the absence of a
legally binding agreement that regulates the filling of the reservoir in time
of drought and severe drought.
Horo said that, during heavy rains, water would overflow in the direction of the two downstream countries. "As for drought durations, the water flowing into the reservoir will remain in the dam. That is the regular way of filling in such projects," the GERD general manager stated
Ethiopia should stop misleading 'colonial
agreements' claims to dodge GERD obligations
Egypt has called on Ethiopia to stop the
"tendentious invocation" of what it falsely describes as
"colonial agreements" to evade both its legal obligations on the GERD
as well as its moral duty not to harm downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.
In a detailed response to an Ethiopian statement released earlier in
the week on the GERD dispute, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of foreign
Affairs Ahmed Abu-Zeid said that what Addis Ababa refers to as "colonial
agreements" were agreements signed when Ethiopia was a sovereign state
Ethiopia called on Egypt to abandon what
it described as the "unlawful claim to monopoly over the Nile River based
on defunct colonial agreements"
Ethiopia has on many previous occasions
accused Egypt and Sudan of basing their legitimate disagreements over the
filling and operation of the GERD on what it described as "colonial
agreements"
Ethiopia's new round of accusations came
two days after the Arab League (AL)
Summit voiced its serious concerns over the lack of progress on
negotiation over the GERD due to Ethiopia’s intransigence, urging Addis Ababa
it to refrain from the unilateral filling and operation of the dam
“This cannot be used by Ethiopia to
conceal its violations of the rules of international law and the principles of
good neighbourliness … or to fulfil its moral duty not to harm downstream
countries Egypt and Sudan," Abu Zeid noted.
Egypt has maintained that these
Ethiopian actions violate international law and the Presidential Statement of
the UN Security Council issued in September 2021
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