Ethiopia rejects Arab League’s resolution on GERD
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that Ethiopia has firmly rejected Arab League Member States’ attempt to dictate the course of the tripartite negotiations over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
At a weekly media briefing he held here yesterday, MoFA Spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti stated that Ethiopia defies Egypt’s long-standing habit of internationalizing the issue of GERD and unaccepted Arab League’s latest Resolution on the mega dam.
“From the beginning, the Arab League clearly demonstrates its bias in the course of GERD negotiations and it ignores the other eight Nile Basin countries in its report. The League presents Egypt and Sudan as the sole owners of the Nile water and this is totally unacceptable.”
Noting that the Nile water is the question of existence for Ethiopia, the spokesperson stressed that the country refuses any attempt to bring back the unjust colonial period-like treaties in this modern day. Accordingly, Ethiopia is convinced that its development solely depends on the effective utilization of natural resources.
“Dialogue and cooperation are the only options to address the existing difference over the mega dam,” Ambassador Dina stated, adding that Egypt and Sudan have been deliberately obstructing the trilateral negotiations led by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Also, Egypt and Sudan demonstrated stubbornness and disobedience to AU’s attempt to seek African solutions to African problems. “The Arab League had better exert its time and resources to solve its own problems and leave African matters to Africans as the Nile belongs to Africans,” he said.
Meanwhile, MoFA issued a press statement on Tuesday in response to the Arab League’s biased resolution. According to the statement, Egypt and Sudan’s attempt to unnecessarily politicize the GERD talks and their endeavors to present the discourse as Arab’s agenda clearly showcases their age-long disrespect to African institutions and mechanisms.
“It is regrettable that the League of Arab States decided to take a position on the AU-led negotiation without verifying the facts.” The League of Arab States should desist from making such unhelpful statements, which will only serve to antagonize the relations among the three countries and undermine the tripartite negotiation, the press statement emphasized.
