أعلن رفض بلاده الإجراءات الأحادية.. وزير الخارجية المصري يهدد بتدابير لحماية الأمن المائي

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty threatened today (Monday) to take all measures guaranteed under international law to protect his country's water security, announcing his rejection of unilateral actions that violate international law in the Eastern Nile Basin.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister discussed the Nile River file and Egyptian water security with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe, emphasizing his country's position based on the necessity of adhering to international law regarding shared water resources.

Abdelatty stated: "The waters of the Nile are an existential issue for Egypt," expressing his hope to enhance regional integration and cooperation among Nile Basin countries, which strengthens the bonds of brotherhood and supports development among African brothers.

Abdelatty is on an official visit to Kampala to participate in the second round of (2+2) consultations, which bring together the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Water Resources and Irrigation with their Ugandan counterparts, based on the outcomes of the first round of (2+2) consultations between Egypt and Uganda hosted by Egypt last December.

The statements coincide with the stagnation of the tripartite negotiations (Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan) that have lasted for more than 13 years, which have not led to a legal agreement regulating the mechanisms for filling and operating the dam, amid ongoing differences in perspectives between Cairo, Khartoum, and Addis Ababa regarding frameworks for cooperation and the equitable use of Nile waters.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced at the beginning of last month the completion of construction works on the "Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile," confirming that its official inauguration will take place next September, which angered Cairo that condemned what it described as "Ethiopian unilateral actions," vowing not to allow the Ethiopian approach based on imposing water hegemony instead of cooperation and partnership.

Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sweilam had presented during a previous meeting with a number of new Egyptian ambassadors the developments regarding the Ethiopian dam file, and the course of the tripartite negotiations (Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia), along with the substantial points of contention, affirming that Egypt has shown a sincere political commitment to reach a binding legal agreement that achieves mutual interests and prevents harm to the downstream countries, but these efforts have been met with a lack of political will from the Ethiopian side.