The latest round of talks that were held in Kinshasa, Congo on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam on Sunday and Monday did not achieve any progress nor did it lead to an agreement on re-launching negotiations as Ethiopia rejected the proposal submitted by Sudan on forming a quartet made up of the African Union, the United Nations, the European and the United States to mediate and bread the deadlock.
A statement released by the Foreign Ministry Tuesday said that Ethiopia also rejected during the meeting all other proposals and alternatives put forward by Egypt and supported by Sudan in order to develop the negotiation process to enable the countries and parties participating in the negotiations as observers to actively engage in the talks and put forward solutions to controversial technical and legal issues.
Ethiopia also rejected a proposal submitted by Egypt and supported by Sudan during the closing session of the ministerial meeting with the aim of resuming negotiations under the auspices of the Congolese president and with the participation of observers in accordance with the existing negotiating mechanism.
That clearly proves the flexibility and responsibility that Egypt and Sudan have assumed and confirms their serious desire to reach an agreement on the Dam. However, Ethiopia rejected this proposal, which led to the failure of the meeting in reaching a consensus on the re-launch of negotiations.
This position once again reveals the lack of political will in Ethiopia to negotiate in good faith. It also shows that Ethiopia seeks to procrastinate and be satisfied with a formal and useless negotiation mechanism, which is an unfortunate approach that the Egyptian negotiator is well aware of and is not deceived.
Egypt participated in the negotiations that took place in Kinshasa in order to launch negotiations under the auspices of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a specific timetable to reach a fair, balanced and legally binding agreement on the Dam, but the Ethiopian side refused to return to negotiations, which will lead to complicate the dam crisis and increase tension in the region.
The AU-sponsored trilateral talks in Kinshasa were attended by Congolese President Tshisekedi in his first bid, as chairman of the AU since February, to resolve the dispute.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri affirmed during the meetings held in Kinshasa that Egypt appreciated the effort made by President Felix Tshisekedi and that Egypt was ready to assist and support him in his endeavors to find a solution to the dam issue in a manner that takes into account the interests of the three countries and enhances stability in the region.
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