GERD Meeting Ends without Agreement

ENA, January 10/2019.. The last trilateral technical meeting held between water ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the filling and operation of the GERD concluded without agreement due to Egypt's 'Negative Gesture', Ethiopia said.

Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Seleshi Bekele said a new proposal presented by Egypt on the filling of the dam is the reason for the disagreement.

"Egypt presented its own version of a filling plan and its delegation insisted to have its entire proposal accepted, prohibited from reaching an agreement," he said.

Seleshi said that Egypt has forwarded an 'unfair' proposal demanding a 12-21 years filling time, which he said is "totally unacceptable" from the Ethiopian side. This is the second time that Egypt changed its stance on the filling of the dam.

Previously, Egypt has been insisting that the filling time should be 7-12 years.  

It is to be recalled that Ethiopia has proposed a filling plan that is stage based and will take from 4 to 7 years depending on the flow of the Nile.

Besides, Ethiopia proposed to take mitigation measures in the incidence of drought or prolonged drought during filling and operation of the Dam, Seleshi added.

Egypt’s proposal, which also assumes natural flow of the Blue Nile, denies Ethiopia's right to develop its resources and even the development projects built for the past 50 years on the rive, Seleshi said..

Despite Egypt's 'negative gestures', Ethiopia demonstrated good faith and spirit of cooperation during the meeting, Silesh stated.

The three countries will meet in Washington DC on January 15, 2020 to finalize negotiations and reach an agreement. If an agreement is not reached by January 15, article 10 of the 2015 Declaration of Principles will be invoked.

the article states that “The three countries commit to settle any dispute resulting from the interpretation or application of the declaration of principles through talks or negotiations based on the good will principle."

“If the parties involved do not succeed in solving the dispute through talks or negotiations, they can ask for mediation or refer the matter to their heads of states or prime ministers.”