Ethiopia has accused Egypt of “categorically rejecting dialogue and negotiations” on Nile waters and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Egypt has been avoiding negotiations on GERD, aiming at orchestrating tension in the region.
The ministry said Egypt has stuck to colonial era treaties and harped on their supposed ‘historical rights.” during the 21st century.
“They invoke colonial era treaties and harp on their supposed ‘historical rights’,” the ministry said, adding “It is time to retire this obsolete playbook that has never cowed Ethiopia.”
The ministry also accused Egypt of long-running efforts to destabilize the Horn of Africa, claiming Egyptian authorities “conduct a campaign of destabilization… focused on but not limited to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, it added, remains open to win-win solutions based on principles of fairness and equity, while firmly upholding its right to utilize the Abbay (Blue Nile) River to meet the needs of present and future generations.
Highlighting Ethiopia’s long-standing commitment to Pan-Africanism and its history of supporting anti-colonial struggles, the ministry stressed that Ethiopia is a nation of ancient civilizations with a long track record of African solidarity; and has no room to accommodate the vestiges of colonialism that Cairo is finding difficult to eschew.
The River Abbay, which originates in the Ethiopian highlands, contributes about 86 percent of the waters of the Nile basin. The Abay watershed accounts for 70 percent of the surface water of Ethiopia. Therefore, Ethiopia, like all other riparian states, has a right to utilize this natural resource, it elaborated.
MG/abj/APA