Egypt rebukes Ethiopia’s use of ‘sovereignty language’ over dam – Middle East Monitor

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry yesterday expressed anger at Ethiopian officials’ use of “sovereignty language” in their recent statements on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

“It is regrettable that Ethiopian officials use the language of sovereignty in their speeches on the use of the resources of a cross-border country [Nile] river, “ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez told reporters, noting that international rivers were” common property of riparian countries. “

Ethiopian Water Minister Seleshi Bekele said on Wednesday that his country will complete the second phase of filling the dam “during the next rainy season in July” and that this will not be postponed “in any way”.

“It is not allowed to extend sovereignty over international rivers or seek to monopolize them,” Hafez emphasized.

The Egyptian official reiterated that natural resources should be used “to serve the peoples of the countries that share them on the basis of the norms of international law, the most important being the principles of cooperation, equity and no harm.”

Sudan: Positive response to quadripartite mediation in the Renaissance Dam archive

He noted that the Addis Ababa statements reflected an “absence of political will on the Ethiopian side to negotiate in order to reach a solution to the crisis of the Renaissance dam,” reaffirming that the African country intended “to impose a fact consummated to Egypt and Sudan. “

“This is something that Egypt rejects because of the threat it poses to the interests of the Egyptian and Sudanese peoples and the impact of such unilateral measures on the security and stability of the region,” Hafez said.

Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa have long been in talks about filling and operating the GERD, a dispute that has yet to be resolved even after the reservoir behind the dam began to fill in July.

Egypt, which gets more than 90 percent of its scarce fresh water from the Nile, fears that the dam could devastate its economy and reduce its annual quota of water.

Endless Fight Between Egypt / Ethiopia and Sudan for the Renaissance Dam – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]