Following Addis Ababa’s announcement that it will move forward with filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) even if a deal is not reached, Egypt submitted on Friday a letter to the UN Security Council urging it to intervene in the controversial dam issue.
In its letter to the UN Security Council — a copy of which has been seen by Ahram Online — Egypt has asked the Security Council to “intervene to affirm the importance of the three countries resuming the negotiations with goodwill… to reach a fair and balanced solution” over the GERD.
Egypt said that Ethiopia going ahead with the filling of the GERD without an agreement “would represent an alarming attempt by Ethiopia to establish and exercise unfettered control over the transboundary river.”
Egypt’s letter came in response to a statement by Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew earlier in the same day where he said it was “not mandatory to reach an agreement” before the filling process begins, confirming that Addis Ababa would “commence the filling process in the coming rainy season.”
The latest round of talks over the giant $4.8 billion hydropower project, which also involved Sudan, stalled this week after Ethiopia rejected to enter into a binding tripartite legal agreement on its operation.
Egypt requested in its letter to take part in the UN body’s meeting that would discuss the matter.
Last month, Egypt sent another letter to the Security Council to inform it about the developments in the years-long diplomatic spat, but had stopped short of demanding an intervention. Both Sudan and Ethiopia sent similar letters to the UN body.
