Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok said that Sudan's position is firm not to go to war with neighboring Ethiopia, during his meeting in Khartoum with European Union envoy Pekka Haavisto.
The European envoy held talks with Sudanese officials on the border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia, and the developments of the stalled Renaissance Dam negotiations between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, calling for the need for a "peaceful solution" to the border tensions between Sudan and Ethiopia.
In the same context, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry stated - in a statement - that Minister Qamar El Din Ismail discussed with Haavisto the tension with Addis Ababa.
During the meeting, Kamaruddin affirmed, "Sudan's commitment to the United Nations Charter and the adoption of maps inherited from colonial rule, and its belief in constructive dialogue is an ideal way to resolve disputes in a peaceful and friendly manner."
The borders of Sudan and Ethiopia witnessed remarkable developments, which led to the intervention of the Sudanese army last December, with the aim of what he called "control of all of its lands," amid accusations - which his Ethiopian counterpart denies - of supporting gangs attacking those lands, and demarcation negotiations are still "stalled."
Haavisto arrived in Khartoum yesterday evening, representing the European Union, as part of a regional tour that also includes Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, which will last for several days.
Expanding the mediation umbrella
For his part, Sudanese Minister of Irrigation Yasser Abbas called for extending the mediation umbrella on the issue of the Renaissance Dam to include the United Nations.
Abbas warned that Ethiopia's implementation of the second mobilization of the Renaissance Dam unilaterally, without an agreement, threatens the hydroelectric generation in the Rossires Dam, adjacent to the Ethiopian border, and the Meroe Dam in northern Sudan, which means threatening the life and safety of about half of Sudan's population in the region.
This came during a meeting between the representative of the European Union, Becca Haavisto, with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok and Foreign Minister Omar Gamaruddin, separately in Khartoum, according to two statements by the Union Mission in the country and the Sudanese Foreign Ministry.
The statement said that during his meeting with Hamdok, Haavisto discussed "internal issues, humanitarian aid arriving in the Ethiopian Tigray region, and border tensions with Addis Ababa."
Haavisto stressed "the importance of a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan," according to the same source.