Ambassador Ahmed Hafez, the official spokesman of Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, stated that the round of negotiations held in Kinshasa on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on April 4 and 5 did not achieve any progress nor lead to lead to launch negotiations.
Ethiopia refused Sudan’s proposal, which Egypt supported, to form a quartet committee chaired by the Republic of Democratic Congo which chairs the African Union to mediate between the three parties.
Ethiopia also discarded, over Kinshasa’s meeting, all suggestions and alternatives presented by Egypt and supported by Sudan to develop negotiations to enable the countries and other parties that participate in the talks as observers to be more active in the negotiations and to find technical and legal solutions to disputes between the three counties.
Ethiopia rejected an Egyptian proposal that supported by Sudan during the concluding session to launch talks held under the supervision of the Congolese President along with the participation of observers according to the standing mechanism of negotiations.
These proposals prove without doubt the elasticity and responsibility of both Egypt and Sudan and assure their serious want to reach an agreement on the Ethiopian dam.
Ethiopia’s refusal of these proposals led to failing the meeting to re-launch the negotiations again.
The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry added that Ethiopia’s stance unveils another time absence of political will to negotiate in good faith as Ethiopia seeks to procrastinate by using a formalism and useless mechanism which the Egyptian negotiator perceives these trucks very well.
Ambassador Ahmed Hafez assured that Egypt participated in the negotiations held in Kinshasa to launch talks under the supervision of the Democratic Republic of the Congo according to a just, defined, and binding timetable about the Renaissance Dam.
The Ethiopian delegate to Kinshasa’s talks was stubborn and refused to return to negotiations again.
That is a harassing stance and leads to complicate the crisis of Renaissance Dam and increases congestion in the region.
The official spokesman of the Foreign Ministry indicated that Egypt’s Foreign Minister affirmed during Kinshasa talks that his country appreciates efforts of the Congolese President Felix Cheskede on this path.
The minister stressed that Egypt is ready to support the efforts of President Cheskede to find a solution to the crisis of the Renaissance Dam which takes into account the interests of the three countries and strengthens stability in the region.
