Egypt announced the end of the fourth and final round of the Renaissance Dam negotiations among Egypt Sudan, and Ethiopia, saying that it reserves the right “to defend its water and national security if it is harmed,” after the three countries failed to reach an agreement.
Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia have been engaged in marathon negotiations for more than a decade without reaching an agreement requested by the two downstream countries from Addis Ababa, regarding the rules for operating and filling the largest dam on the continent of Africa.
Egypt Statement
A statement by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said on Tuesday: “The meeting did not yield any results due to the continuation of the same Ethiopian positions of refusal over the past years to adopt any compromise technical and legal solutions that would secure the interests of the three countries, and Ethiopia’s persistence in reneging on the understandings reached.” meet its stated interests.”
The statement added: “It has become clear that the Ethiopian side is determined to continue exploiting the negotiating cover to establish the status quo on the ground, and to negotiate to extract an instrument of consent from the two downstream countries on absolute Ethiopian control of the Blue Nile in isolation from international law.”
The statement indicated that “in light of these Ethiopian positions, the negotiating tracks have ended,” and Egypt affirmed that it “will closely monitor the process of filling and operating the Renaissance Dam and that Egypt reserves its right guaranteed under international conventions to defend its water and national security in the event it is exposed to harm.”
In February 2020, the Renaissance Dam officially began producing electrical energy and has been filled four times since then, amid condemnation by Egypt and Sudan of “intransigence,” which Ethiopia denies.
