Egypt relies on Arab brothers to urge Ethiopia to on GERD issue

Cairo, The Gulf Observer: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has reaffirmed Egypt’s reliance on its Arab brothers to urge Ethiopia to refrain from its unilateral acts regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam – GERD.

Shoukry made the remarks in a speech during the 159th session of the Arab League (AL) Council on Wednesday.

During his speech, Shoukry called for the Arab countries to urge Ethiopia to show the required political will to accept any of the middle-ground solutions that have been reached on the negotiation table in this regard.

He added that it was proved that these compromises fully achieve Ethiopia’s economic interests without harming the resources of the peoples of the downstream countries.

Shoukry warned that the Ethiopian “unilateral practices” on the international river basins, especially regarding GERD, negatively impact the Egyptian national security.

This comes while Ethiopia continues to fill and operate the dam despite failing to reach an agreement with the two downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt, the minister added.

Shoukry also described the current operation of GERD as a violation of the rules of the international law and the Presidential Statement issued by the UN Security Council in September 2021 in this regard.

“The continuation of the Ethiopian unilateral practices can pose a serious danger to Egypt, which suffers from one-of-a-kind water scarcity as the world’s driest country,” Shoukry stated.

He affirmed that Egypt almost completely relies on the River Nile for its water.