Egypt, Sudan welcome UNSC statement on GERD
Egypt and Sudan welcomed on Thursday the statement issued by the Security Council, which called for continuing negotiations on the GERD under the umbrella of the African Union, while Addis Ababa said that it “will not recognize any allegations based on this statement,” describing Tunisia’s submission of the draft statement to the Council as Historic slip.
Cairo and Khartoum called for resuming negotiations as soon as possible to reach a binding legal agreement on filling and operating the GERD, which Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, and which raises a conflict between it and the downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry considered that the Security Council’s statement “represents an important boost to the efforts made, for the success of the African negotiating track,” noting that the statement “imposes Ethiopia to engage seriously and with a sincere political will, to reach a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the GERD.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Facebook that the issuance of the presidential statement by the Security Council “confirms the special importance it attaches to the issue of the GERD,” noting that it also comes “in recognition of the importance of containing the negative repercussions of the issue on international peace and security,” in addition to the responsibility of the members of the Security Council for Correct any deterioration in the situation.
On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said during a joint press conference: “We received from Congo a vision that determines the course of negotiations in the next stage;” explaining that “after launching the negotiations, a time will be set for reaching a binding legal agreement.”
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered that the issuance of a presidential statement by the Security Council, 9 weeks after the council’s meeting on the dam, was “unprecedented.”
Addis Ababa said that it “will not recognize any allegations based on this presidential statement,” describing Tunisia’s submission of the draft statement to the council as a “historic slip” and undermining its responsibility as a non-permanent council member in Africa’s seat.
