File Photo: Grand Ethiopian Remissions Dam (GERD).
Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Dina Mufti claimed on Thursday that Addis Ababa was able to "withstand pressure imposed by Egypt and Sudan" to “internationalise” the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute.
“We were able to withstand all the pressures to take the GERD file to the UN Security Council and to further internationalise and securitise it,” Mufti said in a biweekly press briefing, citing an accusation that Egypt has refuted.
Ethiopia has frequently claimed that the two downstream countries attempt to exert “unnecessary pressure” on Addis Ababa in the GERD dispute through different means, including attempts to “internationalise and politicise” the GERD file, as its Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen said earlier in May.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had responded to such claims in May that “If (the GERD case) was internationalised, then it has been basically done with the consent of Ethiopia and the involvement of the African Union (AU).”
In various statements, Shoukry stressed that Ethiopia also “agreed and participated willingly” in the GERD negotiations in Washington from November 2019 to February 2020, in which the US and the World Bank were entrusted to prepare a draft agreement and Ethiopia skipped the signing meeting citing "domestic reasons."
Mufti reiterated in the biweekly briefing the “confidence in the ability of the AU to lead the negotiation over the GERD guided by the principle of ‘African solutions to African problems.’"
Egypt and Sudan have reiterated on many occasions their commitment to the AU-sponsored talks to resolve the GERD crisis among the three countries.
However, the last round of AU-sponsored talks held in chair capital Kinshasa in April to revive the negotiations, which have stalled since January, failed to stir stagnant waters, with both Egypt and Sudan blaming Ethiopia for its “intransigence.”
Given the failed April session, the two downstream countries proposed the formation of quartet mediation committee led by the AU and including the European Union, the United States and the United Nations. Ethiopia rejected the proposal, accusing both countries of obstructing the AU-sponsored talks.
In early July, the UN Security Council held a session on GERD at the request of Egypt and Sudan in an attempt to settle the dispute.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, Egypt’s top diplomat said the country has been “committed over the past 10 years to reach a peaceful solution to the issue in accordance with international law, and we will continue adopting such an approach till the political will of Ethiopia to sign a deal is demonstrated."
Egypt and Sudan have been pushing for signing a comprehensive and legally binding agreement with Ethiopia over the GERD, while Addis Ababa refuses to sign such a deal, saying it seeks mere guidelines that can be modified at any time at its discretion.
Shoukry told Bloomberg that Egypt is keen to avoid any military conflict regarding the issue but “all options are always open.”
Egypt fears that the unilateral filling and operation of the massive hydropower project will significantly diminish its water supply.
Egypt, which is considered one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, receives around 60 bcm annually, mainly from the Nile. However, its needs stand at around 114 bcm, placing the 102-million-citizen country well below the international threshold for water scarcity, at 560 cubic metres per person annually.
Meanwhile, Sudan maintains that without a legally binding agreement the GERD will put the operation of its Roseires Dam and the lives of millions of Sudanese at "a very high risk."
The Roseires Dam is located only 15km away from the GERD and has a reservoir that is 12 times smaller than the storage capacity of the GERD's 74 billion cubic metre (bcm) reservoir.
However, the last round of AU-sponsored talks held in chair capital Kinshasa in April to revive the negotiations, which have stalled since January, failed to stir stagnant waters, with both Egypt and Sudan blaming Ethiopia for its “intransigence.”
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