The recent remarks attributed to Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy about building additional dams on the Nile and “controlling” water flows to downstream countries reflect Ethiopia’s continued unilateral approach and constitute a blatant violation of international law, an Egyptian official source said on Sunday.
The remarks also showed that Addis Ababa continued to harbour “illusions” that it could assert dominance over a shared international river and subject it to the will of a single state, the source added, according to the MENA news agency.
The statements once again undermine Ethiopia’s repeated claims that its actions are aimed at development without harming others, the source stressed.
The explicit declaration of an intention to “control” the flow of an international river to downstream countries reveals a highly dangerous approach, he added.
Rather than pursuing legitimate development, the approach reflects an attempt to impose a fait accompli, monopolise a shared international water resource and use Ethiopia’s geographical position to threaten the water rights and interests of downstream countries, the source noted.
“International law does not recognise such an approach, and Egypt will not allow it to be imposed as a fait accompli,” he added.
The source emphasised that the Nile does not belong to any single country, and said any attempt to control the river or unilaterally regulate its flows was in clear violation of established international law governing shared international rivers.
These principles include the obligation not to cause harm, consultation, consensus, good-faith co-operation, and respect for the rights and interests of other Nile Basin countries, the source said.
Previously, Egypt told the UN Security Council that it would take all measures available to it under international law to protect the rights and resources of the Egyptian people in the Nile.
“The Egyptian state has multiple and wide-ranging tools at its disposal and is capable of defending the interests of the Egyptian people in the Nile,” the source said, stressing that Egypt “will neither accept nor allow” any party to control water flows to downstream countries.
