Egypt Denounces Ethiopia's Remarks on GERD

Egypt denounced Ethiopia's recent remarks on Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which revealed Addis Ababa's intention and desire to impose a fait accompli on the two downstream states.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez added that it is unfortunate that Ethiopian officials use the language of sovereignty in their conversations about exploiting the resources of a river that crosses borders.

He also stressed that international rivers are a joint property of the riparian states, and it is not permissible to extend sovereignty over them or monopolize them, rather they must employ these natural resources to serve the peoples of the countries that share them, on the basis of international law, foremost of which are the principles of cooperation, fairness, and non-harm.

The spokesman also pointed out that Ethiopian remarks were issued at a time when the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which assumed the presidency of the AU, is making appreciable efforts to relaunch negotiations and reach an agreement before the next flood season, which reflects the absence of Ethiopia's political will to negotiate, in order to reach a settlement to GERD crisis.

He added that Egypt and Sudan have underlined the importance of the international community's active involvement in talks, led by the Democratic Republic of the Congo through an international quartet that includes the United States (U.S.), the European Union (E.U.), and the United Nations (U.N.), in order to ensure the effectiveness of the negotiation process and to push the three countries and help them reach a deal on the GERD in the coming month.

It is worth mentioning that, Egypt's comment came in response to the Ethiopian Foreign and Irrigation Ministers during a conference held in Addis Ababa yesterday, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of the GERD.

They confirmed Ethiopia's intention to complete the filling of the GERD without reaching a binding-legally deal for the filling and operation of the dam.