Egypt Voices Disappointment over Sudan’s GERD Statement

Ahmad El-Assasy

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed its disappointment and regret for what has been mentioned in Sudan's statement and its reservations regarding the resolution.

Egypt's stressed that it has sent the draft resolution to the permanent delegation of Sudan in the Arab League sine March 1 and Egypt's has received confirmation that Sudan received the draft.

Then, Egypt was following up with the Sudanese delegation to know if they have comments but Egypt received no comment.

Egypt said that it accepted to remove the name of Sudan from the draft resolution. Egypt said that Susan's subsequent proposed amendments weaken the effect of the resolution.

Also, the decision issued by the Arab Ministerial Meeting shows solidarity with Egypt's water rights, and is considered an affirmation of the rules of international law, and an invitation to sign the prepared agreement.

It is worth mentioning that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Water Resources of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan and their delegations met with the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank, participating as observers in negotiations on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in Washington, D.C. on January 28-31, 2020.

At the conclusion of the meetings, the ministers reached an agreement on the following issues, subject to the final signing of the comprehensive agreement:

a schedule for a stage based filling plan of the GERD;

a mitigation mechanism for the filling of the GERD during drought, prolonged drought, and prolonged periods of dry years; and

a mitigation mechanism for the annual and long-term operation of the GERD in drought, prolonged drought, and prolonged periods of dry years.