The negotiations were praised internationally, and an initial agreement, which Egypt has signed, was announced to be reached then. According to Sharaqi, Ethiopia’s current government is just trying to use the GERD project to win the elections. In March 2021, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stated, “No one can take a drop of water from Egypt... This is not a threat.”Sudan, as well has warned more than once of filling the GERD before reaching a legal binding agreement. In 2015, the three countries signed the Declaration of Principles, per which the downstream countries [Egypt and Sudan] should not be negatively affected by the construction of the dam.
