Egypt rejects Ethiopian proposal to form mechanism for exchanging GERD’s second-filling data

The official spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation stated that Egypt had rejected an Ethiopian proposal calling for the formation of a mechanism to exchange data on the procedures of the second phase of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), as Ethiopia announced that it intends to implement this phase during the next rainy season in the summer of this year.

He added that this proposal came in a letter received by Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Aty from his Ethiopian counterpart. This letter included many fallacies and allegations that do not reflect the truth behind the negotiations over the past years.

The official spokesman for the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation stated that this Ethiopian proposal contradicts the decisions of the African summits which emphasized the need to reach a binding legal agreement on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam.

The spokesman stressed that Egypt rejects any unilateral measures taken by Ethiopia and will not accept any formulas that provide a political and technical cover for the Ethiopian efforts to impose a fait accompli on the two downstream countries.

The official spokesman concluded his remarks by emphasizing that Egypt adheres to the necessity of reaching an integrated agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam basing on the provisions of the 2015 Declaration of Principles.