ETHIOPIA GOVT. DISAGREE WITH FILLING & OPERATION OF GERD BY ARAB LEAGUE

Ethiopia said it is dismayed by the resolution issued by the Arab League regarding the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

A statement released by the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that “the management and utilization of the Nile River, including the filling and operation of the GERD, must be left to the concerned parties in Africa” accusing the Arab League of serving “as the spokesperson of one state, disregarding basic principles of international law”. 

“Such attempts to politicize the issue of GERD neither advance friendly relations nor support the efforts to arrive at amicable solutions, as they are not based on facts or supported by law,” the statement added.

Recently, the Arab League’s foreign minister’s council issued a resolution calling on Ethiopia to show flexibility on filling and operation of the GERD, after the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry asked Arab nations to pressure Ethiopia to halt its “unilateral and uncooperative practices” according to media reports.

Expressing its commitment to resolve the remaining outstanding issues under the AU-led negotiations, Ethiopia said “the League’s resolutions and statements by Egypt call into question whether Egypt has been engaged in good faith in the negotiations under the AU’s auspices”.

It reiterated that Ethiopia continues to fill and operate the GERD by the Agreement on the Declaration of Principles of March 2015 signed between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan, with full respect to the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of transboundary water resources.

In August last year, Ethiopia announced the successful completion of the third round of water filling of the dam and started power generation by a second turbine with the capacity to generate 270 MW of electricity.

SOURCE: Addis Standard