Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stated on Saturday that “there is no room to believe in the possibility of imposing a fait accompli when it comes to the lives of more than 100 million Egyptians” regarding the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
This warning came in a speech by Minister Shoukry to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Shoukry stated, “Egypt depends on the Nile River by 98 percent, and Ethiopia has continued to unilaterally fill and operate the dam in a clear violation of international law.”
He added, “Despite the continued unilateral practices of our Ethiopian brothers, Egypt is keen on continuing to engage seriously in the ongoing negotiations, which have lasted for more than a full decade, to reach a binding agreement on the rules of filling and operation.”
“We are still waiting for a sincere response and a genuine effort from Ethiopia to reach an agreement that takes into account the interests of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.” Shoukry added.
He emphasized that “there is no room to believe in the possibility of imposing a fait accompli when it comes to the lives of more than 100 million Egyptians.”
Earlier on Saturday, a second round of new negotiations on the GERD began in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, less than a month after renewed negotiations began in Cairo on August 27 and 28.
On July 13th, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed agreed to initiate urgent negotiations on the rules for filling and operating the dam, which were to be completed within four months.
On September 10th of this year, Abiy Ahmed announced the fourth round of filling of the GERD, and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry considered this announcement “a new violation by Addis Ababa and a burden on the negotiations that have resumed” recently.
The new negotiations on the dam come after a freeze that lasted more than two years, specifically since April 2021, following the failure of an African Union initiative to reconcile the views of the three countries.
Cairo and Khartoum insist on reaching a binding agreement with Addis Ababa regarding the filling and operation of the dam to ensure the continued flow of their water shares from the Nile River, while Ethiopia refuses and insists that it does not aim to harm the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan.