Addis Ababa, June 25/2021 – In a letter sent to the President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday 23 June, Ethiopia rejected the latest attempts by Egypt and Sudan to request the involvement of the Security Council on the issue of GERD outside its mandate. .

Ethiopia said in the letter that recent actions by Egypt and Sudan are just a continuation of a well-orchestrated plan to undermine the AU-led process and ultimately declare it ineffective, adding that this only erodes trust between the three countries.

The letter said that since the start of the AU-led negotiations on GERD, the two lower riparian countries have disrupted the process nine times, undermining the union’s real efforts and blocking a productive discussion.

The two countries have attempted to stifle the AU-led process by injecting unrelated issues into the talks, needlessly securing and internationalizing the issue, and dragging the Arab League into the situation to further complicate the issue, says. the letter.

Undermining all the genuine, sincere and encouraging efforts of President Tshisekedi of the DRC and his proposal for a phased approach to the talks on GERD and the filling of the dam, the letter indicates that Egypt and Sudan have continued to squander resources. President’s efforts and to extend deal.

With all of these underappreciated approaches to the AU-led process, the letter says, trilateral talks that aimed to promote cooperation should not be used by downstream states to impose their colonial and monopoly rights as well as their whims and wishes on them. Ethiopia.

In this regard, the letter pointed out that the insistence of downstream Egypt and Sudan not to allow upstream Ethiopia to fill the dam without their consent is supported neither by international law nor by law. convenient.

“… The second year filling of GERD will be administered during the next rainy season starting in July, in accordance with the timeline and staged rules agreed to in the trilateral process. “

According to the letter, the second year GERD fill will be administered in the next rainy season starting in July, in accordance with the phased schedule and rules agreed to in the trilateral process.

The letter concluded its explanation of Ethiopia’s position on tripartite negotiations by calling on the Security Council to encourage Egypt and Sudan to continue to negotiate in good faith under the auspices of the African Union. MoFA