Egypt has expressed interest to resume negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan over the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Egypt’s shift in stance came following a virtual talks held on Thursday between Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdala Hamdok.
Ethiopia said it wi begin the filling the the GERD’s resevior next July even though Egypt and US insisted that the filling of the controversial dam should begin after an agreement is reached between he three countries.
The National news service quoted Egyptian Foreign Ministry as saying on Thursday that “Egypt is always ready to enter into negotiations and participate in upcoming meetings to reach a fair, balanced and comprehensive agreement.”
The Ethiopian and Sudanese Prime Ministers in their separate discussion agreed to amicable solutions related to GERD to resolve outstanding and misunderstood issues between the two parties.
In a response to Ethiopia’s recent proposal on the filling of the dam, Sudan switched side to Egypt and demanded agreement between the three countries before the filling begins.
Egypt recently submitted a letter to the United Nations Security Council in protest to Ethiopia’s plan to start filling the dam.
According to office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, the Sudanese concern over the dam involves environmental, dam safety and data exchange issues.
The office said Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to continue discussion on technical levels to be led by Ministers of Water Affairs of the two countries.
MG/abj/APA