Egypt Resorts To Security Council As Ethiopia Starts Second Filling Of GERD
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday to stress the international community’s responsibility for pressuring Ethiopia to halt its unilateral actions.
Shoukry voiced Egypt’s concerns and called on the Security Council to support a binding agreement that preserves the interests of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
Within few hours, the Security Council will hold a session on the Grand Ethiopian Dam (GERD) as requested by Tunisia on behalf of the Arab League.
The terms of the resolution proposed by Tunisia include:
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Demand that Ethiopia cease the second filling of the GERD
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Demand that Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia resume negotiations
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Reach a binding agreement on GERD in six months
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Demand that the three countries stop any measure that delays negotiations
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Demand that Ethiopia stop unilateral decisions
It’s worth mentioning that Egypt, until the present time, has avoided attacking the dam. Cairo’s decision to resort to the Security Council came after Ethiopia’s intransigence in African Union’s- led talks.
President Al-Sisi hailed the efforts of the Congolese President, Felix Tshisekedi, who’s the current head of the AU, for mediating between Ethiopia and Egypt.
On Monday, Egypt and Sudan denounced Ethiopia’s second filing of the GERD, describing it as a “unilateral action” that violates international law.
Shoukri and his Sudanese counterpart Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi said that the Ethiopian move violated the 2015 declaration of principles.
“The second filling constitutes a violation of international laws and norms governing the exploitation of the resources of transboundary rivers,” the two ministers stressed.
“It represents a dangerous escalation that reveals Ethiopia’s bad faith and its desire to impose a fait accompli on the two downstream countries, and its indifference to the negative effects and damage that its interests may suffer due to the unilateral filling of the dam,” they added.
Conspiracy theories and involvement of Israel
“Egypt must be kept weak politically (by weakening its regional and international centralization), economically (by depriving it or affecting its main resources, including the Nile), and militarily by drowning it in internal confrontations (in Sinai), and on its borders with Libya and Sudan (around Halayeb and others), and with Ethiopia, etc,” Prof. Dr. Walid `Abd al-Hay wrote on Israel’s strategy towards Cairo.
Ostensibly, the GERD intends to generate electricity for Ethiopia. But in reality, Ethiopia has other political goals. First, the GERD issue helps build a positive image for Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia. Second, the GERD will definitely shore up Ethiopia’s role in the region. Third, and most importantly, Israel through the Ethiopian project will be able to place a noose around Egypt’s neck.