Ethiopia Resumes Filling GERD Ahead of UNSC Session
Ethiopia has begun the second phase of filling the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam, and is calling on Nile Basin nations to form a front against Egypt and Sudan.
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Ethiopia calls on Nile Basin nations to form a front against Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopia called on Nile upstream countries on Wednesday to form a front against Egypt and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), calling the two countries' demands "imperialist and monopolizing."
This comes a mere hour before a UNSC session filed against Addis Ababa's beginning phase two of filling the dam, while Tunisia has put forward a draft resolution calling on Ethiopia to stop filling the dam.
A statement by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry says that Deputy PM and Ethiopian FM Demeke Mekonnen has met with ambassadors and diplomats of Nile Basin countries in his office to keep them up to date on the latest GERD developments.
The Foreign Minister declared, during the meeting, that Sudan and Egypt's latest attempts to bring the case before the UNSC by mobilizing Arab countries could needlessly securitize the issue.
He added that this "marks a dangerous precedent, and may take negotiations far from the African Union's position, which is to resolve African problems through African processes."
Mekonnen also noted that Ethiopia "believes that the Renaissance Dam is a developmental project that does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Security Council," calling the Council to "respect negotiations and the ongoing tripartite process led by the African Union."
The statement also read that the ambassadors also confirmed that the GERD is a matter of concern for them as well because they all aspire to make use of the Nile River for developmental purposes.
The Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation announced on Monday that it received a formal address from its Ethiopian counterpart, stating that stage two of filling the dam has begun, noting that Cairo replied with another address to Ethiopia to express its firm stance against this unilateral procedure. Sudan, on its part, considered that Ethiopia's filling of the dam has become a "matter of fact."
In international responses, Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry met with Russian and Chinese Permanent UNSC Representatives to strengthen his country's position in the Council's session.
US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated that "Ethiopia's filling of the GERD has the potential to raise tensions."
