[ad_1]
10:34 a. M.
Wednesday 03 March 2021
(Agencies):
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it hopes to reach an agreement with Egypt and Sudan on the Renaissance dam, stressing that it is “ready to negotiate in good faith.”
“Ethiopia believes in continuing negotiations in a positive spirit by the African Union led by the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Dina Mufti.
The Ethiopian comment comes after Egyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers demanded Ethiopia on Tuesday to show goodwill and engage in an effective negotiation process to reach a binding agreement on the Renaissance dam.
In a statement yesterday, Egypt and Sudan reaffirmed the importance of reaching a binding legal agreement on the filling and operation of the Renaissance dam, in a way that preserves their water rights and interests, along with Ethiopia, and limits the damage from this. project to both. downstream countries.
The two countries affirmed that they have political will and a strong desire to achieve this goal as soon as possible, and called on Ethiopia to show good will and engage in an effective negotiation process to reach this agreement.
They also expressed their appreciation for the effort made by South Africa to guide the course of the negotiations, and their welcome for the Congo to assume leadership of these negotiations after its president, Felix Tshisekedi, assumed the presidency of the African Union, according to the statement. joint statement issued at the conclusion of Sudan’s Foreign Minister Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi’s first visit to Egypt on Sunday.
At the same time, the two sides expressed concern over the stalled African Union-sponsored negotiations, emphasizing that Ethiopia’s implementation of the second dam filling unilaterally “will pose a direct threat to the water security of Cairo and Khartoum, especially with regarding the operation of the Sudanese dams and threatens the lives of 20 million Sudanese citizens. ” It is considered a “substantial breach of the Declaration of Principles agreement concluded between the three countries in Khartoum on March 23, 2015.”
Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and his Sudanese counterpart, Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, affirmed the adherence of the two countries to the Sudanese proposal supported by Egypt on the development of the negotiation mechanism.
The two ministers emphasized the need to continue coordination and consultation between the two countries regarding the Renaissance dam crisis, and agreed to brief the Arab countries on the latest developments in the negotiations, including the Arab committee formed to follow developments. in this vital file.
About two weeks ago, Sudan had tabled a proposal to move the stagnant waters of the negotiations, by forming an international quartet committee that would include, along with the African Union, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, to the time when Ethiopia continued with its intransigence and confirmed that it would mobilize the second phase next July, even if no agreement was reached.
