The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced that the country has submitted a letter to the Security Council that includes a presentation of the developments surrounding the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, whose negotiations have been stalled for months.
The ministry said in a statement issued yesterday, Wednesday, that its Minister, Sameh Shukri, received a phone call from Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Rinsalo, whose country is a member of the UN Security Council, and discussed the positions on a number of regional issues of common concern.
In the phone call, the Egyptian minister revealed that his country presented a letter to the Presidency of the Council on the Renaissance Dam recently, without specifying an appointment.
He emphasized that this letter was circulated to members of the Council and related to the developments of the Renaissance Dam issue and the stages of negotiations, and the positions taken by Egypt described as flexible and consistent with the rules of international law.
The speech also touched on the importance of positive engagement on the part of Ethiopia in order to settle this file in a fair and balanced manner to its three parties concerned, in a manner that guarantees the sustainability of security and stability in the region.
Estonia and cooperation with Egypt
In turn, the Estonian Minister expressed his country's aspiration for close cooperation with Egypt within the framework of Estonia's membership in the Security Council and its assumption of its presidency this month in order to support international peace and security, according to the Egyptian statement.
As of last November, Washington had sponsored attempts to bridge the points of view between Cairo, Addis Ababa and Khartoum, which culminated in the end of February, with Egypt signing initialing an agreement to fill and operate the dam reservoir. The agreement was also sponsored by the World Bank.
Cairo considered the agreement fair, amid Ethiopian rejection and a Sudanese reservation, and after that, in mid-March, Egypt announced that talks with Ethiopia had stopped.
Cairo and Addis Ababa moved in contacts and interviews with the ambassadors of several countries to present their views on the issue, amid Sudanese calls to return to negotiations without a response from the Egyptian and Ethiopian parties.
Egypt fears the potential negative impact of the Renaissance Dam on the flow of its annual share of the Nile River's water amounting to 55.5 billion cubic meters, while Sudan gets 18.5 billion.
However, Addis Ababa says that it is not intended to harm Egypt's interests, and that the aim of building the dam is primarily to generate electricity.