Egypt warily signs preliminary Nile agreement
While showing some optimism about the Declaration of Principles it recently signed with Sudan and Ethiopia, Egypt is proceeding with caution concerning its historical water rights.
CAIRO — Since the presidents of the Eastern Nile countries of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia signed the Declaration of Principles of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on March 23, relative official and public acceptance have prevailed in Egypt. After a long historical feud over the Nile waters that Egypt considers part of its national security, Ethiopia and Egypt are trying to rebuild trust.
The international community supports this declaration as the first step toward consensus and cooperation to resolve the dispute over the management of the Nile waters, including such issues as building dams in upstream countries and compromising water usage to achieve water security in all affected areas. However, the parties concerned with this issue are still conflicted over implementing the declaration's principles. The official meetings of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn concluded without an agreement on a timeframe or a plan to negotiate an international legal agreement.
The 'Declaration of Principles' agreement outlines 10 principles determining the managerial approach that Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt should adopt for the Eastern Nile waters. The principles: common understanding, good faith, development, not causing significant damage, fair and appropriate use of water, trust building, exchange of information and data, dam security, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the state, and peaceful settlement of disputes.
Sisi, his national security adviser Faiza Abu el-Naga and Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab met frequently to review the articles of the declaration before the president traveled to Khartoum and signed the declaration. An official at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Water Resources and Irrigation expressed his fear of signing without reading the text that protects Egypt’s annual quota of Nile waters from Ethiopia.
