CAIRO: Egypt on Sunday sent a letter to the UN Security Council reiterating its rejection of Ethiopia’s unilateral actions regarding the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The letter, from Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty to the council president, came after comments by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed regarding the fifth phase of the dam’s filling.
Egypt said Ethiopia’s unilateral policies contravened the rules and principles of international law and constituted a flagrant violation of the Agreement on Declaration of Principles signed by Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in 2015 and the presidential statement of the Security Council issued on Sept. 15, 2021.
Abdelatty said that Ahmed’s statements regarding withholding a portion of the waters of the Blue Nile this year and the completion of the concrete structure of the GERD were entirely unacceptable to Egypt.
The letter said that the negotiation tracks on the GERD, in which Egypt had engaged with genuine intentions, had ended after 13 years. It was now clear that Addis Ababa wished only to maintain an endless negotiation process as a cover to conceal its ulterior purpose of entrenching a fait accompli and that it lacked the political will to reach a solution.
Ethiopia was seeking to legitimize its unilateral policies, which contravene international law, under the guise of unfounded claims concerning peoples’ right to development, it said.
Abdelatty said Egypt was among the leading countries supporting development in the Nile Basin states and that mutual growth could be achieved only if all parties committed to cooperative practices in line with international law, avoided causing harm to others and promoted regional integration.
He described Ethiopia’s policies as unlawful and said they would have grave consequences for the downstream nations of Egypt and Sudan.
Despite the recent increase in Nile flood levels and Egypt’s efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of Ethiopia’s unilateral actions regarding the GERD, Egypt would continue to monitor developments closely and would take all measures and steps accorded by the UN Charter to defend its existence and the aspirations and interests of its people, the minister said.
Egypt’s Supreme Committee for the Nile convened last week under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. It reaffirmed the country’s right to defend its water security and take the requisite measures to achieve this.
The committee also discussed ways to improve cooperation in the region.
Abdelatty said Egypt strongly believed in working together to secure funding for development projects in Nile Basin countries in line with internationally agreed practices.
Such an approach promoted prosperity while avoiding the potential tensions and poverty arising from Ethiopia’s uncooperative policies, he said.
