Renaissance Dam negotiations .. Egypt offers a proposal that achieves the Ethiopian goal
Egyptian negotiating team, in the case of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, headed by Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Ati, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, held a bilateral meeting with observers and experts, today, Sunday, to review the Egyptian position regarding the filling and operation of the dam.
A statement by the Ministry of Irrigation said that the Egyptian team discussed the technical and legal aspects with the observers, and clarified the most important Egyptian concerns, regarding the various aspects of the agreement to fill and operate the Renaissance Dam, in the context of attempts to bring the views between the three countries, and the path of negotiations proved to be very different.
The Egyptian delegation reviewed the water situation of Egypt and the sensitivity of the Renaissance Dam issue to the Egyptian people, which is an existential issue, as was referred to the Egyptian efforts to reach a fair and balanced agreement, taking into account the interests of the three countries, in a way that enhances regional cooperation among them, by making proposals consistent with Internationally recognized standards associated with such issues.
The statement added that Egypt has expressed its opposition to development projects in the Nile Basin countries, including Ethiopia, but that Egypt supports the efforts of its brothers there to achieve the aspirations of the peoples of the region.
The Ministry of Irrigation statement indicated that the most important features of the Egyptian proposal that achieves the Ethiopian goal in electricity generation is avoided, while avoiding serious harm to Egyptian and Sudanese interests, within the framework of implementing the Declaration of Principles, and the method of dealing with any future projects on the Blue Nile, to ensure their consistency with Principles of international law related to the use of common rivers.
A number of observers made several inquiries and clarifications, to which the Egyptian team responded.
