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Sudan’s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas met with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto on Sunday to discuss the current situation at the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the latest related developments. with negotiations.
Abbas presented to the European envoy to Sudan the proposal that the umbrella of mediation in GERD negotiations should include the United Nations, and emphasized that the GERD could be a focal point for regional cooperation and benefit sharing rather than competition and conflict.
Haavisto said he will visit Addis Ababa to meet with the Ethiopian prime minister for the same purpose.
Abbas highlighted Sudan’s support for GERD, stating that Ethiopia has every right to its development as long as this does not negatively affect Sudan, and urged the signing of a binding legal agreement.
He also explained the risks presented by the second filling of Ethiopia’s back in July without first consulting Egypt or Sudan.
Sudan has warned that filling the dam without reaching a tripartite agreement would compromise the safety of the Sudanese Roseires dam and endanger the lives of millions of people living in the surrounding area.
The Roseires dam is located approximately 40 km from the GERD site.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday that “we will reach an outcome on GERD with patience.”
In a telephone interview with television host Amr Adeeb, Sisi added that “Egypt is in the stage of negotiations on GERD, and the negotiations are lengthy. We have carried out internal measures in Egypt to diversify water sources such as treatments and others ”.
Egypt said on January 10 that recent GERD negotiating sessions have failed once again due to differences on how to resume the talks and procedural aspects related to managing the negotiation process.
The three parties have held several rounds of negotiations in recent years, but have ultimately failed to reach an agreement.
Construction of the dam, which began in 2011, is considered one of Egypt’s most serious water problems.
Egypt, which relies heavily on fresh water from the Nile, has expressed fear that GERD will adversely affect the country’s water supply and has insisted that measures be taken to protect downstream countries in the event of drought during the process of filling of the dam.
Ethiopia, for its part, has highlighted the importance of the project to boost its economy, where more than half of the population currently lives without access to electricity.
Edited translation by Al-Masry Al-Youm
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