CAIRO – 5 July 2021: Egypt’s Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Ati voiced the country’s rejection to Ethiopia’s step to start the second phase of filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). This comes after Abdel Ati received on Monday an official letter from his Ethiopian counterpart Seleshi Bekele confirming that Ethiopia started the second filling phase of the GERD reservoir. Abdel Ati said this act represents a clear and dangerous violation of the 2015 Declaration of Principles signed by the three countries. Egypt and Sudan has reiterated rejection of the second filling of GERD, which Ethiopia builds on the Blue Nile, unless the three countries reach a legally-binding agreement on the dam. Rounds of African Union-sponsored talks have collapsed with Egypt and Sudan blaming the collapse of negotiations on Ethiopia’s intransigence.
