Egypt calls Ethiopian statement 'desperate attempt to sabotage Arab-African relations'

CAIRO – 24 May 2023: Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Abou Zeid described the statement issued by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry to comment on the Arab Summit's decision to support Egypt and Sudan's stance on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue as misleading, plenty of fallacies, and twisting facts.

The spokesperson added that the statement is also a desperate attempt to sabotage relations between Arab countries and African countries by portraying the Arab support to Egypt as an Arab-African disagreement.

The ambassador pointed out that the statement included falsehoods that Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia had agreed on the quantity of water to be held in the reservoir and the duration of the filling, and that Egypt and Sudan's resort to Arab backing is a violation of the Declaration of Principles. Moreover, the statement claimed that Arab states that are members in the African Union do not support the decision issued by the last Arab summit.

Abou Zeid shed light on Egypt's history with backing national struggle movements and liberation from colonial rule in Africa, as well as the efforts it deploys and resources it allocates to supporting socio-economic development on the continent and peace-building.

The diplomat stressed that such history debunks unsubstantiated claims that Egypt mobilizes Arab states against African interests. He further stipulated that the fact that Ethiopia houses the headquarters of the African Union does not make it entitled to speak in its name or the name of its countries to cover up its violation of international law and principles of good neighborliness.

The spokesperson refuted Ethiopia's claim that it had taken into consideration the concerns of Egypt and Sudan, underscoring it contradicts the fact that negotiations lasted for over a decade but to no avail or care to the rights of downstream countries.

The ambassador demanded Ethiopia to stop using the excuse of what it calls "colonial agreements" to decommit of legal documents it had signed while an independent state, and its moral duty of not causing harm to downstream states.

Abou Zeid equally demanded Ethiopia to abstain from blaming those states for vying for the natural outcome of negotiations, which is a legally binding agreement that preserves their existential rights in tandem with fulfilling the developmental ambitions of the Ethiopian people.