Egypt Categorically Rejects Ethiopia's Statement on GERD Meeting

Egypt categorically rejected the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry's statement on the ministerial meeting on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that was held in Addis Ababa on January 8-9.

In a statement on Friday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry described the statement as "deliberately misleading" and "distorting the facts."

The statement presented a picture totally inconsistent with the course of the negotiations, Egypt's stances and technical suggestions.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry pointed out that the four ministerial meetings did not achieve tangible progress, because of Ethiopia's obstinacy and its adoption of overrated stances.

The Ethiopian stances show the country's intent to pursue de facto policy and dominate the Blue Nile as well as operating the dam without any slightest consideration for the downstream countries, especially Egypt - the downstream country- a matter which contradicts Addis Ababa legal commitments in terms of the international treaties and norms, including the agreements signed in 1902,1993, and 2015.

"Ethiopia seeks to control the Blue Nile like what it does in international rivers with brotherly countries," the ministry noted.

This Ethiopian regrettable path was manifested in its technical stances and suggestions, offered during the meetings, which reflect Addis Ababa's intention to fill GERD without any restrictions or applying any rules that in turn give real guarantees to the downstream countries and protect them from any possible harms.

Ethiopia's refusal of natural draining the dam's reservoir out is attributed to its intention to benefit from the dam in establishing new projects and making use of the Blue Nile's water freely without any regard for Egypt's water interests, the statement read.

[caption id="attachment_102426" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Ethiopian Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)[/caption]

Egypt positively engaged in the negotiations to reach a just deal, achieving the common interests of Cairo and Addis Ababa.

Unlike what the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry's statement alleged that Egypt asked to fill GERD in a period ranging between 12 and 21 years, the ministry pointed out that Cairo did not determine years of GERD's filling.

The three countries agreed a year ago that GERD would be filled in stages, based on the annual inflow of the Blue Nile's water.

Egypt, in this regard, suggested that the filling process could take six or seven years in case of the average or above-average flow of water during the filling process, but in case of drought, GERD could generate 80% of its productivity, a matter which means that the Ethiopian side would bear the drought's burden by a small percentage.

Cairo also proposed developing mechanisms and rules, adapting to the hydrologic changes of the Blue Nile and dealing with the drought years during the filling process in conjunction with maintaining GERD's generation of electricity at high rates.

But Ethiopia insists that Egypt would bear the burdens of any drought alone, a matter which is inconsistent with the international law principles.

Egypt is surprised about that it whenever called for the importance of agreeing on effective steps on dealing with the drought years which might happen during the filling process, Ethiopia expresses its readiness for filling GERD unilaterally, a matter, which Egypt rejected during the negotiations as it contradicts the Declaration of Principles, signed in 2015.

The ministry stressed that Cairo further denounces what the Ethiopian ministry's statement claimed that Egypt wants to monopolize the Nile River water, saying such hollow slogans, which maybe for local consumption, do not create a suitable environment for achieving progress in negotiations.

Egypt affirmed that it would partake in the scheduled meeting, held by the US secretary of the treasury, with the Sudanese and Ethiopian foreign ministers in Washington on January 13 and 14.