Related Articles
Dina Ezzat – Ahram Online
The UN Security Council session held on Thursday, resulted in a call on Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to settle the dispute over the GERD under the auspices of the African Union “in good faith and away from any unilateral action”.
“After a year of abortive negotiations and despite the tireless efforts of the Chairpersons of the African Union and our international partners, we find ourselves yet again, confronted by the reality of the unilateral execution of the filling of the GERD without an agreement to protect downstream communities against the dangers of this dam”, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told the UN Security Council.
According to Shoukry’s statement, “the AU-led process, in its current format, has reached an impasse”.
“Otherwise, if its riparian rights are jeopardized or if its survival is imperilled, Egypt will be left with no alternative, but to uphold and protect its inherent right to life that is guaranteed by the laws and customs of nations and the imperatives of nature”, Shoukry stressed.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister commended the European Union’s statement, issued on Thursday, which expressed “concern over Ethiopia’s execution of the second filling of the reservoir of the dam without an agreement”.
In his statement to the UN Security Council, the permanent representative of Tunisia said that the (Tunisian) draft resolution offers “a reasonable framework to help the three countries conclude an agreement within a reasonable timeframe under the umbrella of the African Union”.
“If the UN Security Council was to remain silent on Ethiopia’s unilateralism, it would be effectively sending a message to Addis Ababa to continue ignoring the concerns and rights of the downstream countries”, the Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam Al-Sadek Al-Mahdi stressed.
Al-Mahdi said that her country is “willing to resume working with Egypt and Ethiopia within the framework of the AU-led negotiations”. However, she added that these negotiations need “a new modality to be effective”.
In his statement, before the UN Security Council, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water Resources Seleshi Bekele showed no intention on the side of Addis Ababa to change its attitude on the GERD negotiations. Bekele declined to acknowledge any of the Egyptian and Sudanese concerns on the possible devastating impact of the filling and operation of the GERD.
Bekele declined any role of the UN Security in managing the dispute over the GERD. He made no promises that Ethiopia would refrain from unilateralism pending the finalisation of an agreement under the AU-led negotiations.
All speakers who had addressed the UN Security Council clearly called on the three countries “to avoid all unilateral actions that could aggravate the dispute”. Speakers argued that at the end it would be up to the three countries to find an agreement in light of the 2015 Declaration of Principles which Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia signed.
