Egypt to resort to UN over Ethiopia's unilateral step on disputed dam

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What you need to know:

  • Egypt in the past few years attempted to reach a fair agreement to solve the GERD crisis.
  • South Africa, the United States and the European Union attended as observers.


Cairo

Egypt will resort to the United Nations Security Council to prevent Ethiopia from making any unilateral step on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to a statement by Egypt's Foreign Ministry on Monday.

Mr Ahmad Hafez, spokesperson of the Foreign ministry, said in the statement that any unilateral move by Ethiopia will "negatively impact the right of Egypt in the Nile River and the international peace and security."

Egypt in the past few years attempted to reach a fair agreement to solve the GERD crisis while protecting the interests of Ethiopia and Sudan, but the recent negotiations haven't "brought any positive results," he added.

VIRTUAL NEGOTIATIONS

Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan decided to continue virtual negotiations on Monday.

However, the tripartite negotiations were planned to end on June 13.

South Africa, the United States and the European Union attended as observers in a bid to seal a deal on the controversial dam.

"The four-day negotiations demonstrated that there are many fundamental issues that Ethiopia continues to reject," the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources said in an earlier statement.

The ongoing negotiations came months after talks stalled in February during US-sponsored meetings in Washington.