French newspaper La Croix said that the Renaissance Dam crisis "may be an appropriate way for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the beloved of Egypt, to unite the nation against a common enemy."

According to the director of research at the French National Institute for Scientific Research, Marc Laverne, despite the tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the dam, there is no great risk that Egypt will venture into armed action because "everyone will turn against it," according to the French newspaper.

The French expert says that the tensions related to the dam are "excessively exaggerated, because in reality it is a race for regional prestige, as Egypt is no longer an agricultural and rural country, and its need for water is no longer great."

The newspaper talked about new negotiations between the water and irrigation ministers from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, in an attempt to reach a compromise on the speed of filling the reservoir of the Great Renaissance Dam, which for nearly ten years raises fears of water shortages in Egypt.

Since 2011 - the newspaper says - this super hydroelectric dam, which is 1.8 km long and 145 m high, has become a source of tension between the three countries, as Addis Ababa seeks to develop and provide electricity to 50 million Ethiopians, by building this dam at the source on the Blue Nile that meets With the White Nile in Sudan to form the River Nile.

Upstream, Cairo fears that filling the dam's 74 billion cubic meters basin will deprive it of part of the water it reaches annually, especially as it depends on the river by 90% to supply water.

In the middle between the upstream and downstream Khartoum plays a "good offices stance," says Marc Laverne, noting that Sudan has nothing (fears) against the dam because it will allow it to regulate the water ", in case the river overflows," but rather tries to persuade Egypt to calm Play".

Maintaining the negotiations
The newspaper said that the United States and the World Bank have been pressing since November 2019 to break the deadlock in negotiations without success, especially after Ethiopia refused to sign an agreement in early March on operating the dam and managing the flow of the river, came after a number of meetings Held in January and February.

In May, Egypt said it was ready to resume talks to reach a "fair, balanced and comprehensive agreement", but Sudan rejected Ethiopia's proposed deal, noting "technical and legal issues that need to be resolved," at a time when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was urged. The three parties persevere in their efforts to resolve any outstanding issues peacefully and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. "

Three observers from the United States, the European Union and South Africa attended the last video-enabled meeting.

The Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation described the meeting as "not positive and did not reach any result."

The ministry said in a statement, last Wednesday, that Egypt had affirmed the constants of its position, which include asking Ethiopia to announce that it will not take any unilateral action in full, until the end of negotiations and an agreement is reached.

The newspaper concluded that Ethiopia is determined to produce electricity this year, to fully operate by 2022 from this giant dam, which will become the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa and which has spent 4.2 billion dollars.