Ethiopia announced on Friday that 90% of the construction of the Renaissance Dam has been completed.
The deputy chairman of the GERD project coordination council, Faqarti Tamro, said that the dam faced challenges, diplomatic pressure and internal war, yet the Ethiopians were able to complete this project.
The Council also announced a celebration tomorrow, Saturday, on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the dam.
The announcement came hours after Egypt warned of the economic, social and environmental dangers of unilateral moves on shared river basins, a reference to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Egyptian Irrigation Minister Hani Swailem said in a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York that the process of construction, filling and initiation of the operation of the Renaissance Dam continues unilaterally, in violation of international law, and could pose an existential and catastrophic danger to about 150 million people.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also stressed in a previous statement that all options and alternatives are available to Egypt to defend its capabilities and the interests of its people.
He stressed the importance of reaching a legally binding agreement for the operation and filling of the Ethiopian dam.
The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry rejected the threats attributed to the Egyptian official, calling them "irresponsible."
The ministry said in a statement that Shoukry's remarks constitute a "flagrant violation" of the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitutive Act of the African Union, renewing the call for a negotiated solution to the dam, and stressing its commitment to a settlement "in the interest of all."