Egypt summons Ethiopian diplomat over GERD statements

Jan 2, 2021 (Nyamilepedia) — Egypt’s foreign ministry summons Ethiopia’s top diplomat in Cairo over comments by an Addis Ababa official regarding a controversial dam on the Nile.

“They know the GERD won’t harm them, it’s a diversion from internal problems,” Dina Mufti, the Ethiopian ministry’s spokesman and a former ambassador to Egypt, said Tuesday.

Mufti contended that without this “distraction”, Egypt and Sudan would “have to deal with many local issues waiting to explode, especially up there (in Egypt).”

On Wednesday, the Egyptian foreign ministry “summoned the Ethiopian Charge d’Affaires in Cairo to explain comments by the spokesperson for the Ethiopian Ministry for Foreign Affairs regarding domestic Egyptian affairs.”

Egypt “condemned these statements which are considered a blatant transgression,” reads a statement released by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ahmed Hafez on Thursday.

Hafez stressed that such an offence against his country is a continuation of the Ethiopian government’s approach aiming to use a hostile tone and fueling emotions to cover its “multiple failures domestically and externally”.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have been in talks since 2011 but have failed to reach a deal on filling the dam. The negotiations have been stalled since August.

Ethiopia views the dam as essential for its growing power needs, and insists that the flow of water downstream will not be affected.

But Egypt, a country of more than 100 million people who depend on the Nile for 97 percent of their water needs, opposes unilateral moves by Ethiopia.

Along with Sudan, it has called for a legally binding political solution to the dispute.

The Statement also mentioned the ongoing internal troubles in the Tigray and Benishangul regions as well as the “constant tensions and instability in the Oromia region” refering to the ongoing border tensions with Sudan.