Without the agreement of its neighbors, Ethiopia begins filling the Renaissance Dam

On July 15, Ethiopia officially announced the start of filling and storing water in the Renaissance Dam, after the end of the tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, which continued for 12 days under the auspices of the African Union without ever reaching an agreement on the Dam.

Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation, Water and Energy Silici Bekele stated that the start of operations to fill the Renaissance Dam, so, leaving the door open to continuing negotiations

Bekele said that negotiations on the Renaissance Dam are continuing not only for the current generation, but for the benefit of future generations, indicating that it was agreed on some points during the meeting with Egypt and Sudan.

On the other side, the Ethiopian announcement was met by demands from Cairo for an official clarification on the validity of the start of filling the Renaissance Dam.

An official spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Counselor Ahmed Hafez asked  Ethiopia for  an urgent clarification, stressing that Egypt continues to follow developments in what is being raised in the media on this subject.

The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources confirmed, after Ethiopian statements, that the water level of the Blue Nile River has decreased by 90 million cubic meters.

On the international level, the UN Security Council member states agreed during a recent special session on the Renaissance Dam on the need to settle and solve the dam crisis through dialogue and negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The three countries agreed to an initiative to resume negotiation of the Renaissance Dam submitted by South African President Cyril Ramavoza.

O. al-Mohammad