Egypt’s Foreign Ministry rejected a statement issued by Ethiopia regarding the outcomes of recent ministerial meetings of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) held on 8-9 January in Addis Ababa, saying that it is full of inaccurate information.
In a statement on Friday, the Egyptian ministry said that the Ethiopian statement presented an image completely contrary to what is happening during negotiations, explaining that the last four trilateral meetings between the irrigation ministers of the three countries have not reached any agreement due to Ethiopia’s intransigence.
In response to remarks by Ethiopian officials that Egypt submitted a new proposal to fill the Dam in 12 – 21 years, the ministry clarified that Egypt did not specify a number of years, and that the number of years were agreed among three countries more than a year ago.
On Thursday, Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation Seleshi Bekele said that the three sides failed to reach agreement on the filling of the dam as Egypt presented a new proposal requesting the filling to be carried out in 12-21 years, saying “This is not acceptable. We will start the filling of the dam by July.”
Egypt further condemned the allegations of the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry that Egypt seeks to monopolise the waters of the Nile.
However, Egypt confirmed that it will participate in the meeting scheduled to be held by the US Treasury Secretary with the Foreign and Water Ministers of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in Washington on 13 and 14 January.
The three countries are scheduled to continue negotiation on 13 January in Washington with the aim of resolving their disagreements over the filling and operation of the dam. An international mediator will be appointed to help resolve the issue in case if the three sides did not reach any agreement by 15 January, according to the deal the countries reached in Washington.
