Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday said the government seeks to reach a solution to the ongoing Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue against Ethiopia’s intransigence, reported Egypt Independent.
Sisi’s statement came at the tripartite summit between Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece. The summit was held in Athens and was attended by the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades.
The Egyptian President stressed Egypt’s high priority of water security and the country’s rights in the waters of the Nile River, as this is a crucial issue that needs to be addressed to reach a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the dam.
He said the international community has a big crucial role to play in the issue to maintain stability in the three African countries.
In September, the UN Security Council had issued a statement on the GERD dispute and called out Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia to resume negotiation talks, under the President of the African Union to finalize a binding legal agreement.
Earlier this month, a Sudanese diplomatic source said that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the current president of the African Union, is yet to fix a date for the resumption of negotiations.
Egypt and Sudan want a legally binding agreement on the operation of the dam, while Ethiopia wants to have an advisory pact.
The Egyptian and Sudanese governments consider the dam a threat to their vital water supplies, while Ethiopia considers it essential for development and increasing its electricity production. Both the downstream nations fear the adverse impacts on water facilities, agricultural land, and overall availability of Nile water.
The negotiation talks over the dam between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan have stalled for years, with the three parties failing to reach any concrete agreement on the largest hydroelectric project in Africa.
