Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on Monday hinted that the government will resort to the United Nations Security Council to prevent Ethiopia from taking any unilateral step on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), reported Anadolu Agency.
“Ethiopia’s intransigence would push Egypt to seek other options, such as resorting to the UN Security Council,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said during a video-conference in Cairo.
According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Shoukry said the government’s next move would be to urge the UN Security Council to take its responsibility to prevent any harm to international peace and security by preventing Ethiopia from taking any unilateral action that would negatively affect the right of Egypt in the Nile River.
Ahmad Hafez, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said Egypt has tried to reach a fair agreement to solve the GERD crisis while protecting the interests of Ethiopia and Sudan in the past few years, but the recent negotiations haven’t brought any positive results.
Notably, Ethiopia is building a hydro-electric dam project on the Nile, which Egypt fears it would reduce its water share. Cairo and Addis Ababa still disagree at the speed at which Ethiopia is seeking to fill the 74 billion cubic meter reservoir behind the dam and the impact that could have on water supplies downstream in Egypt and Sudan.
Both Egypt and Ethiopia have already made it clear in the past that they are ready to take any step to protect their interests, should negotiations fail, and experts fear a breakdown in talks could lead to conflict.
Last week, the four-day long negotiation talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan ended Saturday without any breakthrough regarding the dam project. South Africa, the United States and the European Union attended as observers in a bid to resolve the controversial dam issue.
The most recent negotiations came months after talks stalled in February during US-sponsored meetings in Washington.
