Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi has considered Ethiopia’s plans to move forward with the second phase of filling its mega-dam on the Blue Nile an “attack” on her country.
She called on the United Nations Security Council to intervene to reach friendly solutions and halt the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) threatening regional peace and security.
In a letter addressed to the media, the FM stressed that Ethiopians have disrespected good neighborliness when they carried out the first filling of the dam reservoir in July 2020.
Addis Ababa’s announcing it would carry out the second filling in the next rainy season is a “flagrant violation of Sudan’s national security and endangers the lives of 20 million Sudanese living downstream of the GERD.”
Mahdi attached to the letter a study presented to the international community and the region, in which she outlined Sudan’s firm position on the GERD project.
She further slammed Ethiopia’s unilateral steps taken in this regard and without reaching any legally binding agreement with relevant countries.
According to the text study, Khartoum informed the Security Council about the developments in the African Union-sponsored negotiations with Addis Ababa.
It highlighted Addis Ababa’s insistence to proceed with the second filling unilaterally, which was deepening the crisis and preventing disputed parties from reaching amicable solutions.
Mahdi urged the Security Council to support Sudan and Egypt’s efforts to expand negotiations on GERD’s filling and operation, return to the round table as soon as possible and reach a comprehensive and final agreement.
The Foreign Ministry called on Ethiopia to recognize Sudan’s rights and ensure that its unilateral steps do not affect the Sudanese people.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted on Sunday that the second filling of the mega-dam will go ahead as scheduled in July/August, noting that this step will prevent floods in neighboring Sudan.
Cairo and Khartoum reject Addis Ababa’s unilateral second filling of the dam before reaching a binding agreement.
The latest round of talks between the three countries in Kinshasa ended with no progress reached.
Cairo and Khartoum have earlier proposed to include the European Union, United States, and United Nations in the negotiations, in an addition to current African Union mediators. However, the proposal was rejected by Addis Ababa.
