Egypt has called on the UN Security Council to interfere in the issue related to the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is a source of regional tensions, and Cairo fears its consequences for its water supply. This came at a time when negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are faltering. The three countries failed to reach agreement among themselves, especially on the mechanism of water sharing.
Egypt submitted to the Security Council a request "calling on the Council to intervene in order to confirm the importance of the three countries, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, continuing to negotiate in good faith, in implementation of their obligations in accordance with the rules of international law in order to reach a fair and balanced solution to the issue of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam", according to the following. In a statement of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.
The statement added that Egypt took this decision in light of "the stalled negotiations that took place recently on the Renaissance Dam, as a result of Ethiopian positions that are not positive" and "the lack of political will in Ethiopia and its insistence to continue filling the Renaissance Dam unilaterally."
Sudan had suggested referring negotiations with Egypt and Ethiopia over the Renaissance Dam to the prime ministers of the three countries after no progress had been made in the last round of talks.
Ethiopia says the electricity expected to be generated from the Renaissance Dam that it is building on the Blue Nile is vital to pushing the development projects of the country of more than 100 million people. However, Egypt says the dam threatens the flow of Nile waters, most of which originate from the Blue Nile, with devastating effects on its economy, water and food resources.
Ethiopia began building the dam in 2011, and with its completion, it will become Africa's largest hydroelectric dam.
The Nile provides 90 percent of the drinking and irrigation water that Egypt, with a population of 100 million, needs.
And the Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned that if no agreement is reached in the coming weeks, this would "escalate tensions between the three countries, making it more difficult for them to reach a settlement."