Ethiopia’s ambassador to Cairo Markos Tekle Rike said on Wednesday that the trilateral talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will be resumed soon.
In a press conference at the Ethiopian embassy in Cairo, Rike said that the talks will be resumed soon under the auspices of the African Union to discuss reaching an agreement that satisfies all parties.
The ambassador added that Addis Ababa is keen on solving differences peacefully.
He talked about the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Egypt on the political and economic field. He noted the enormous opportunities available between the two countries to enhance cooperation and underscored the need to address temporary challenges that could affect the success of efforts aimed at utilizing these opportunities.
On GERD negotiation, he expressed Ethiopia’s principled position and longstanding commitment to resolve the difference over the GERD through peaceful negotiations. However, unless Ethiopia’s desire to address the issue is not reciprocated, it would be difficult to have a win-win agreement, stated the ambassador.
On the current situation in Ethiopia, the Ambassador briefed the media about recent developments and expressed his hope that the media will report based on the realities on the ground than disseminating unsubstantiated and politically motivated misinformation aimed at undermining the government.
“We only heard about it from the media,” he said, adding that Ethiopia has been transparent with Egypt since the start of construction on the dam in 2011. He also reiterated Ethiopia’s claim that the GERD will cause no harm to the downstream countries.
Rike also said that Ethiopia initially aimed to fill the GERD in three years, but it agreed to make it seven years for the sake of the downstream countries.
Notably, efforts are underway to revive negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to solve the long-running dispute caused by GERD.
Congolese officials said on Wednesday that the foreign ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are to meet in Kinshasa on Saturday in an effort to re-launch a fresh round of talks on the ten-year-old dispute, according to AFP.
The officials added that the anticipated talks, set to last into Monday, will be attended by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi whose country took over the presidency of the AU last month, succeeding South Africa, which mediated in vain the talks over the past year.
Negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have kept hitting a deadlock over the past years, with both downstream countries laying blame on Ethiopia for the failure of past rounds of talks, including the last one mediated by the AU, which stalled in January.
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