Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Ethiopia of obstructing efforts to reach an agreement on the Renaissance Dam, saying that it has no real political will to reach an agreement with the two downstream countries, at a time when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed responded that his country would not miss the opportunity to mobilize the dam it is building on The Nile River during the flood season.
In statements to Egyptian media, Shoukry stressed Ethiopia’s violation of the principles agreement signed between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in 2015, which stipulates the need for consensus between the three countries. Read also The Egyptian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation discuss in Sudan the file of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam At the conclusion of talks in Khartoum, Egypt and Sudan renew their refusal to unilaterally fill the Renaissance Dam The second filling of the Renaissance Dam is approaching.. Ethiopia is on alert, Sudan refuses, and Egypt is cautious The arrest of the former Egyptian ambassador, Yahya Negm, after criticizing the state administration of the Renaissance Dam crisis
These
Show help
In a related context, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok renewed his country’s position on the need to reach a binding legal agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam.
After his meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, in Khartoum, Hamdok said that the file of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam should be within a comprehensive framework of cooperation and integration between the three countries, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia.
For his part, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission affirmed the Union’s support for Sudan for the success of the transitional phase and the Commission’s follow-up to the ongoing negotiations on the Renaissance Dam. He also offered Khartoum’s assistance in the framework of settlement efforts led by the current session of the African Union President, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi.
meeting in Doha
The Arab League had agreed to hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday in Doha to discuss the crisis of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The official Egyptian news agency quoted the League’s Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki as saying that an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers will be held on Tuesday in Doha at the request of Egypt and Sudan.
Zaki indicated that the emergency meeting “will be on the sidelines of a consultative meeting that was scheduled to be held in Doha at the level of foreign ministers on Tuesday (he did not clarify its agenda).”
He explained that “the emergency meeting will discuss the developments of the Renaissance Dam.”
On Wednesday, Sudan and Egypt stressed, in a joint statement, the importance of coordinating their efforts internationally and regionally to push Ethiopia to “negotiate seriously” over the Renaissance Dam, which has been stalled for months.
There is no room for delay
For his part, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that missing the opportunity to fill the Renaissance Dam during the flood season, which begins next month, will cost his country great losses.
Ethiopia holds its neighbors Egypt and Sudan responsible for “obstructing the negotiations”, and says it does not aim to harm them, and seeks to benefit from the dam to generate electricity for development purposes.
Addis Ababa insists on a second filling of the dam with water, which is believed to take place next July and August, about a year after the first filling, even if it did not reach an agreement.
While Cairo and Khartoum adhere to first reaching a tripartite agreement to preserve their water facilities, and to ensure the continued flow of their annual share of the Nile waters.
In the strongest threat to Addis Ababa since the outbreak of the crisis 10 years ago, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on March 30 that “the Nile waters are a red line, and any harm to Egypt’s waters will have a reaction that threatens the stability of the entire region.”