EU Urges Egypt, Ethiopia to Agree over GERD

Today, the European Union urged Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to reduce the increasing tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security of the European Union Josep Borrell indicated that more than 250,000 people residing in the Blue Nile Basin may benefit from a potential agreement based on a consensus on filling the Renaissance Dam.

Also, Borrell pointed out that these people are waiting for investments in the fields of water security, irrigation, agricultural production and power generation.

The commissioner stressed that Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia can now reach an agreement on filling the dam, adding: "Now is a time to act, not to increase tensions."

The Commissioner expressed European full support for the efforts of the Republic of South Africa, which currently chairs the African Union, to push the parties to negotiations.

He added that the international community looks forward to resuming the Renaissance Dam talks as soon as possible and completing them.

This statement comes a day after US President Donald Trump warned, in a call with the head of the Sudanese transitional government, Abdullah Hamdouk, on Friday, that Egypt might "explode the Renaissance Dam" if the three countries were unable to reach an amicable solution to their differences over it.