Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said in a sharply-worded statement on Friday that it rejects Egypt’s latest proposal for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as it comes against the sovereignty of Ethiopia.
The statement added that Egypt’s proposal also comes against Ethiopia’s development plans, complicates the dam’s filling, and add to the burden on the country.
On Thursday, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Sileshi Bekele, announced that his country is preparing a new proposal as long as Egypt is not changing any of its old proposals, according to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).
Last week, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sameh Shoukry, said Egypt believes negotiations should be “technical and scientific” and not exposed to any political interpretation.
He noted that Egypt hopes to overcome all these obstacles related to GERD very soon, and affirmed Egypt’s respect to the right of Ethiopia to development, as long as this will not lead to any harm to other countries.
The recent Ethiopian remarks came two days after the talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan in Cairo, which failed to reach any satisfactory solution for the issue. The trio are expected to meet again on 30 September in Sudan.
