Egypt Will Have No Alternative But to Protect Its Rights If No Binding Agreement Reached: Shoukry

On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) poses an existential threat to Egypt’s population of over 100 million people.

During his speech at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session held in New York to discuss the latest developments on the GERD.

The session follows the failure of talks between the two downstream countries and Ethiopia. Negotiations were meant to culminate in a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the Ethiopian dam.

The UNSC meeting comes three days after Ethiopia had announced it started the second filling of the dam in unilateral action, a move against which consequences Egypt and Sudan had been warning for months. The two downstream countries have repeatedly voiced their categorical rejection of the filling.

Shoukry said that mere days before the UNSC session was set to convene, Addis Ababa commenced with the second filling without reaching a legally binding deal with the downstream countries and announced arrogantly that "the river became a lake... the Nile is ours"

He added that the Ethiopian act to implement the second GERD filling unilaterally reflects not only Ethiopia's irresponsibility and indifference to the harm it will cause to Egypt and Sudan but also reflects its bad intentions and efforts to impose fait accompli.

The Egyptian top diplomat stated that the unilateral Ethiopian approach uncovers its negligence and contempt of the international law rules and exposes its real political goals represented in controlling the River Nile and turning it into a political tool, confirming that Egypt resorted to UNSC on GERD out of its faith in the value of international law and the multilateral action as a tool to prevent conflicts.

Shoukry stressed Egypt sought to reach an agreement on GERD that ensures the interests of the three countries although Ethiopia started constructing the dam without consulting Egypt and Sudan.

He added that any GERD agreement should be fair and legally binding and should also ensure that the Egyptian water security is not jeopardized as a result of the filling and operating of the dam.

Shoukry reiterated that Ethiopia managed to get the AU-sponsored GERD talks out of the track and sought frequently to direct the negotiations into reaching non-binding guidelines for the operation of the dam, vowing Egypt will have no alternative but to protect its right to exist if Ethiopia insists on its stance.

He added that Egypt demands that Ethiopia sticks to the international commitments including the need to prevent any significant harm to the downstream countries' interests.