EU to Solve the Renaissance Dam Crisis
The European envoy to Ethiopia and Sudan, Pekka Haavisto, enters into efforts to reach an agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan on the Renaissance Dam issue, when Ethiopia plans to start the second filling.
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European Envoy to Sudan and Ethiopia and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
Pekka Haavisto, the European envoy to Ethiopia and Sudan, stressed the importance of reaching an agreement between the three countries on the issue of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam before Ethiopia begins the second filling this summer, even if this agreement is transitional.
In a press statement in Brussels, the European envoy said that the European Union believes in its ability with the African Union to help the three countries, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, solve the issue between them now.
He pointed out that the Ethiopians plan to start the second filling this summer, but "it is important to reach at least an agreement, albeit transitional, on the second filling, as there is a need to provide information from Ethiopia and an agreement between the three countries on the technical and practical aspects of operating the dam, and the European Union can do play a positive role and helps at the political and technical levels to reach an agreement,” he said.
The European envoy indicated a lack of technical information, "Therefore, Sudan is concerned that the flow of water may lead to the destruction of infrastructure, which prompts Sudan to demand guarantees that the filling is safe, as he put it.
Last Friday, the Sudanese government announced that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam had "turned into a weapon and a threat against the country," noting that the first filling of the dam was a "stab in the back" and caused a violent shake-up of confidence with the Ethiopian side.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi said that "Ethiopia is using water capacity to intimidate Sudan," referring to the sudden opening of the Takze Dam on the Atbara River joint early this month.
Al-Mahdi confirmed that Ethiopia's first filling of the dam violently shocked the "confidence between the two countries."
In June, Ethiopia rejected the decisions issued by the Arab League Council meeting at the ministerial level regarding the Renaissance Dam crisis, the most prominent of which was the call of the UN Security Council to hold a meeting to discuss it.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at the time that "Ethiopia's insistence on the second filling of the Renaissance Dam without an agreement violates the rules of international law."
