CAIRO — Facing Ethiopia’s unilateral decision to begin filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s reservoir before coming to a full agreement with Egypt over a storage and operation mechanism in the dam, Cairo has taken a new diplomatic path, briefing the UN Security Council members May 1. It stated in an all-inclusive letter all of the unsuccessful diplomatic efforts and paths taken regarding the dam in light of Ethiopia’s intransigence and unilateral decision to fill the dam.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry’s letter to the Security Council president for May, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, clearly states, “Ethiopia announcing its intention to seize the Blue Nile waters to fill the dam’s reservoir in July 2020 poses a serious threat to the region’s peace and security. Filling the dam’s reservoir, which is being promoted as the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa, would jeopardize the water security, food security, and indeed, the very existence of over 100 million Egyptians, who are entirely dependent on the Nile River for their livelihood.”

After the letter was circulated among the Security Council members, Reinsalu contacted both Shoukry and Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew by phone. In a May 6 statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced that Egypt and Estonia agreed to work in favor of international peace and security and stressed the importance of involving Ethiopia in order to reach a just and balanced settlement of this dossier and sustain security and stability in the region. 

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry’s statement indicated May 8 that the two sides — Andargachew and Reinsalu — stressed the importance of wisely resolving the conflict over filling the reservoir and operating the dam between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, without giving any further details.