Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia Hold Decisive Meeting on GERD Today


Tue 16 Jun 2020 | 12:00 PM
NaDa Mustafa

All eyes turn today, Tuesday to the joint ministerial meeting among the irrigation ministers of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis.

Observers believe that the only way out of this crisis is to reach binding legal and technical agreements based on international law and protect the rights of the downstream countries Egypt and Sudan in an unequivocal way.

The ministerial meeting is taking place amid mixed feelings between cautious optimism based on the progress made in the technical aspects, according to Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas, who said on Monday that the three parties agreed on 95 % of them.

On the other hand, there are still major legal obstacles identified by an Egyptian official statement saying that Ethiopia seeks to sign a non-binding paper ignoring the understandings reached during a full decade of negotiations.

At the same time, Ethiopia reserves its right to start filling and operating the dam without prejudice to the water interests of Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt may resort to the UN Security Council over GERD crisis

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that Egypt will seek other options, including going to the United Nations Security Council, if Ethiopia remains intransigent during the new round of GERD talks.

Addressing a lecture organized by the Egyptian Business Council for International Cooperation, Shoukry added that Egypt has been committed to negotiating in good faith to reach a balanced and fair agreement to the “GERD crisis” in the past years for the best interest of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Sudanese Irrigation Minister's statements 

Abbas said that GERD negotiations between the delegations of Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia had achieved “significant progress” in the technical aspects, pointing out to differences in the legal aspects.

He added, in a press conference, that the aim of these negotiations is to reach a fair and satisfying agreement, according to Sky News.

He noted: “Sudan recognizes the right of countries in development in accordance with the rules of international law for water projects, the most important of which is the fair and reasonable use without harming others. “