CAIRO – 8 March 2023: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has reaffirmed Egypt’s reliance on its Arab brothers to urge Ethiopia to refrain from its unilateral acts regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Shoukry made the remarks in a speech during the 159th session of the Arab League (AL) Council on Wednesday.
During his speech, Shoukry called for the Arab countries to urge Ethiopia to show the required political will to accept any of the middle-ground solutions that have been reached on the negotiation table in this regard.
He added that it was proved that these compromises fully achieve Ethiopia’s economic interests without harming the resources of the peoples of the downstream countries.
Shoukry warned that the Ethiopian “unilateral practices” on the international river basins, especially regarding GERD, negatively impact the Egyptian national security.
This comes while Ethiopia continues to fill and operate the dam despite failing to reach an agreement with the two downstream countries of Sudan and Egypt, the minister added.
Shoukry also described the current operation of GERD as a violation of the rules of the international law and the Presidential Statement issued by the UN Security Council in September 2021 in this regard.
“The continuation of the Ethiopian unilateral practices can pose a serious danger to Egypt, which suffers from one-of-a-kind water scarcity as the world’s driest country,” Shoukry stated.
He affirmed that Egypt almost completely relies on the River Nile for its water.
Supporting Palestinians
Egypt will spare no effort to support the Palestinian people’s resilience against the current increasing repressive practices and violations of the international law and human rights, Shoukry said in his speech.
The top Egyptian diplomat said the Israeli repressive practices challenge the will of the international community and the commitments and obligations that Israel had previously accepted.
“We will continue our contacts with all international an regional parties in order to support the peace track and protect the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people,” Shoukry said.
Shoukry said the Palestinian cause remains the Arab World’s central issue, stressing adherence to the comprehensive and fair peace to resolve the cause.
He added that this peace cannot be achieved except through the establishment of the Palestinian state on the 4 June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“I reiterate rejection and condemnation of all Israeli practices that obstruct the path of settlement, harm the future of the peace process, and push the situation in occupied Palestine and the entire region toward aggravation and tension,” the foreign minister said.
In this regard, Shoukry voiced rejection and condemnation of all forms of Israeli settling activities, aggression, violation of sanctities, and storming of the Palestinian cities, which causes victims to fall among Palestinians.
Syria, Libya settlement
Shoukry also affirmed keenness to settle the crisis in Syria at the earliest opportunity in accordance with the relevant international resolutions on top of which is the UN resolution 2254.
This comes in order to preserve the integrity and unity of the Syrian state, supports Syria’s institutions, and end all forms of terrorism and foreign interference in a way that puts an end to the Syrian people.
Shoukry renewed condolences to Syria and Turkey over the devastating earthquake in February, which killed tens of thousands, and reaffirmed support to the Arab countries and peoples.
Shoukry also stressed the need for the relations between Arab countries and neighboring states to be based on good neighborliness and mutual abidance to non-interference in their internal affairs.
Libya also saw recent “important and substantial” developments that were represented in the approval of the 13th constitutional amendment, Shoukry said.
“This contributes to fulfilling the required constitutional and legal framework to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections in conjunction as soon as possible under the supervision of a neutral government that prioritizes the Libyan state’s supreme interests,” Shoukry stressed.
The Egyptian foreign minister affirmed full support to the Libyan-Libyan track to resolve the country’s cause and rejection of any foreign dictations based on the Skhirat Agreement.
“Egypt calls on all parties involved in the Libyan crisis to abide by these indispensable foundations and determinants and views all attempts of creating new mechanisms as aiming to disrupt the scene in order to perpetuate the ongoing situation,” Shoukry said.
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