Egypt hits back at Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman, says he should have focused on his country’s problems

CAIRO – 31 December 2020: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Thursday issued a rough statement denouncing Ethiopian foreign ministry’s spokesperson’s remarks as a “totally unacceptable” intervention in Egypt’s domestic affairs.

“It would have been more useful for the Ethiopian spokesperson to pay attention to the deteriorating conditions in his country," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in the statement.

The ministry, a day earlier, announced summoning the Ethiopian chargé d'affaires to Cairo over the remarks.

No official body in Egypt immediately revealed the controversial statements issued by the Ethiopian spokesperson Dina Mufti.

However, according to media reports, Mufti issued remarks related to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam issue, adding that Egypt’s approach toward the issue reflects the "depth of the internal crisis in Egypt."

Hafez said Mufti’s remarks touched the Egyptian domestic affairs a and represents a blatant violation of the commitments of the Constitutive Act of the African Union stipulating that member states should not interfere in the domestic affairs of other states.

“Such attack on the Egyptian state and violation in addressing its domestic affairs only represents a continuation of the approach of employing the hostile tone and igniting the feelings to cover up the consecutive Ethiopian failures on many levels, domestically and internationally,” the Egyptian statement read.

“This comes while Egypt has always preferred to permanently refrain from discussing in any way the internal conditions and developments in Ethiopia”.

The statement turned to be sharper, urging the Ethiopian spokesperson to focus on the “deteriorating” conditions in his country.

“It would have been more useful for the Ethiopian spokesperson to pay attention to the deteriorating conditions in his country, which witnesses many disputes and humanitarian tragedies,” the Egyptian statement said.

It added that these incidents in Ethiopia have caused the death of hundreds and the displacement of tens of thousands of innocent citizens.

The statement referred to the conflicts in the Tigray region and Benishangul-Gumuz “in full view of everyone” as well as continuous tensions and instability in the Oromia region.

“This is in addition to the Ethiopian continuous hostile practices towards its regional surroundings, including the recent military actions and growing tension in the border strip with Sudan.”