Talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have failed to reach any comprehensive solution that would determine the rules of filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile a few weeks before Addis Ababa starts filling it.
Sudan has proposed for the controversial issues to be discussed by the prime ministers of the three countries. However, Egypt said Ethiopia rejected the proposal and announced that the negotiations have hit a standstill.
On Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Ethiopian intransigence for the deadlock in the negotiations.
During talks with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias, the FM said Egypt was serious in reaching a fair and balanced agreement taking into account the interests of the three countries involved in the negotiations.
On June 9, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan resumed virtual talks on GERD in the presence of observers from the European Union, the US and South Africa, in hopes for reaching a solution to the legal points on water sharing.
It said the Ethiopian paper on filling and operating GERD was inconsistent with the principles and rules previously agreed upon by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in the negotiations brokered by the US and the World Bank in Washington earlier this year.
Ethiopia has already planned to start filling the reservoir of the dam in July.
Late Wednesday, Yasser Abbas, Sudanese irrigation and water resources minister said, “The disputes between the three delegations are of a legal nature especially in terms of a... mechanism for water sharing. Sudan has proposed to refer these issues to the prime ministers of the three countries.”
However, Cairo announced later that Addis Ababa rejected the proposal.
Despite disputes on the dam, Ethiopia did not lose hope.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy said in a statement Thursday that the most prominent technical issues are resolved through the negotiations.
“However, the full completion of the negotiations will require resolution of legal issues,” it added.
The statement failed to clearly state Addis Ababa’s position from Sudan’s proposal to refer the GERD talks to the prime ministers.
The US National Security Council Thursday wrote on Twitter, “257 million people in east Africa are relying on Ethiopia to show strong leadership, which means striking a fair deal. Technical issues have been resolved – time to get the GERD deal done before filling it with Nile River water!”
Responding to the tweet, the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his government had "consistently shown leadership in its stance for equitable and fair usage of the Nile waters.”
