Egypt Sends Letter to UNSC Rejecting Ethiopia’s Unilaterally Filling for GERD

Egypt's Foreign Minister (FM) Sameh Shoukry sent on July 29, 2022, a letter to the President of the UN Security Council to register Egypt’s objection to Ethiopia unilaterally continuing to fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) without an agreement with Egypt and Sudan on the filling and operation of the dam.

In the letter, Shoukry expressed Egypt's total rejection of the Ethiopian attitude, which is considered a clear violation of the 2015 Declaration of Principles Agreement and a grave violation of the applicable rules of international law that oblige Ethiopia, as an upstream country, not to harm the rights of downstream countries.

He also indicated that during the negotiations that took place over the past years, Egypt had sought to reach a fair and equitable agreement on the GERD, but Ethiopia had thwarted all efforts and endeavours to resolve this crisis.

FM also stressed that despite Egypt adhering to the necessity of reaching an agreement on the GERD that achieves the common interest of the three countries, the Egyptian state will not tolerate any prejudice to its rights or water security or any threat to the capabilities of the Egyptian people, who represent the Nile River any threat to the destiny of the Egyptian people, for whom the Nile River represents the only lifeline.

Moreover, Egypt's top diplomat called on the Security Council to assume its responsibilities in this regard, including by intervening to ensure the implementation of the presidential statement issued by the Council, which obligates the three countries to negotiate in order to reach an agreement on the GERD as early as possible.

In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez stated that Egypt had received a message from the Ethiopian side on July 26 stating that Ethiopia would continue filling the GERD reservoir during the current flood season, a measure that Egypt rejects and considers a violation of the obligations imposed by international law on Ethiopia.

Egypt stressed its demand for Ethiopia to be responsible and comply with the rules of international law and the principles governing transnational watercourses, foremost of which is avoiding significant damage, and Holds it fully responsible for any significant harm to Egyptian interests that may result from Ethiopia's violation of its aforementioned obligations.

Moreover, the Arab Republic of Egypt also reserves its legitimate right guaranteed in the Charter of the United Nations to take all necessary measures to ensure and protect its national security, including against any risks that may be caused in the future by Ethiopian unilateral measures.