Ethiopia plans to go ahead with filling its dam despite Egyptian and Sudanese dissatisfaction

Egypt accuses Ethiopia of blocking Nile dam talks

photo_camera ADWA/YIRGA MENGISTU - General view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Egypt's minister of irrigation and water resources, Mohamed Abdel-Ati, blames Ethiopia for the stalled negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the failure to reach an agreement.

The minister announced in the Egyptian parliament that there is "stubbornness" on Ethiopia's part in the dam negotiations and that it is withdrawing from the agreed terms. He said that there was a delay which is a problem for Egypt. He said the irrigation ministry is working on the technical side of the dam, while the foreign ministry is handling the political and legal aspects.

Egypt called on the incoming US administration to play a role in finding a solution to the Ethiopian dam crisis, Anadolu Agency reported. Egypt's official news agency quoted Motaz Zahran, the US ambassador, as saying that the country expects incoming President Joe Biden to engage with the three parties to the crisis (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) to make progress.

Relations between the three countries involved in the negotiations became strained during the summer of 2020 after Ethiopia began the first stage of filling the dam without prior consent.

On the other hand, Ethiopia hopes that the new US president will not interfere in negotiations between Addis Ababa, Khartoum and Cairo over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, the African country's ambassador to Russia, Alemayehu Tegenu Aargau, told Sputnik.

Mohamed Abdel-Ati said the US mediating side initially helped in a draft agreement, which Egypt signed, but Ethiopia rejected.

"There were four meetings hosted by the African Union and five six-party meetings, in the presence of the ministers of irrigation and foreign affairs, and no agreement was reached," he added.

Atalayar_Gran Presa del Renacimiento Etíope (GERD)

Abdel-Ati noted that Egypt had responded to the Sudanese prime minister's initiative and that many meetings had taken place without any progress.

During meetings in Khartoum, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Ambassadors to explain Sudan's position on the Renaissance Dam, Sudan's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Yasser Abbas, said there is a direct threat from GERD to the Rossiris Dam. The capacity of the latter is less than 10 per cent of that of the Renaissance Dam. He further emphasised that this endless circle of talks without results cannot continue. 

He also said that since "war is not an option, the Sudanese side started at an early stage a diplomatic movement to put the international community on its responsibility for the Ethiopian threat and its threat to the lives of half of Sudan's population in the Blue Nile". 

In less than six months Ethiopia will begin implementing its plan to complete the second filling of the GERD, with or without agreement on daily data exchange with Sudan. 

However, a message has been sent to Ethiopia that Sudan will not allow this to happen and will not allow the dam to operate without a legal agreement. This must be binding and guarantee the safety of its facilities and the Sudanese. 

In recent years, Egypt and Sudan, the two downstream countries, have been engaged in negotiations with Ethiopia, the upstream country, to address the issue of the GERD that Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile, as both Cairo and Khartoum fear its negative effects.

Recently, Ethiopia announced the completion of 76.3 percent of the dam, stressing that it aims for development without harming the other countries involved.

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