Egypt slams Ethiopia’s unilateral filling of Nile dam

By Ibrahim al-Khazen

ISTANBUL (AA) – Egypt on Sunday denounced Ethiopia’s 4th filling of its dam on the Blue Nile as a violation of international law.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday announced the completion of the 4th and final filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

“Ethiopia's unilateral actions ignore the rights and interests of the downstream countries and their water security, otherwise guaranteed by international law,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It said the 2015 Declaration of Principles states that Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan must agree on the rules for filling and operating the GERD before any filling begins.

Last month, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan resumed negotiations on the GERD on the Blue Nile, a main tributary of the Nile River.

The resumption of the negotiations came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Ethiopian prime minister agreed in July during a summit of Sudan’s neighbors in Cairo to resume negotiations regarding the rules for filling and operating the dam.

“The negotiations which have recently resumed to reach an agreement in four months have been compromised by Ethiopia’s approach,” the Egyptian ministry said.

Egypt voiced hope that the upcoming round of talks in Addis Ababa “would achieve a significant breakthrough that paves the way to reaching an agreement on the rules for filling and operating the GERD.”

Egypt and Ethiopia have been logged in a years-long dispute on the GERD.

Egypt views the GERD as an existential threat to its water share from the Nile and wants Addis Ababa to reach a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

Ethiopia sees the dam as crucial for its development process and denies any harm to the water share of Egypt and Sudan, two downstream countries.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar