Ethiopia accused Egypt of driving up tensions in their long-running dispute over the Nile River by rejecting dialogue and clinging to what it calls outdated claims to control the waterway, in a new statement from Addis Ababa on Wednesday.
The criticism centers on Egypt’s response to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, with Ethiopian officials alleging Cairo is using threats and regional pressure rather than negotiations to protect its water share.
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said recent remarks by senior Egyptian officials show an “escalatory” approach and an unwillingness to continue talks over GERD operations.
Addis Ababa argues that Egyptian decision-makers still act as if the Nile is their exclusive preserve, relying on treaties from the colonial period and claims of “historical rights” that Ethiopia says do not reflect today’s realities.
Egypt accuses Ethiopia of international law violations
Egyptian authorities have previously warned that unilateral Ethiopian moves on the GERD, including filling and operating the reservoir, violate international law and threaten what they call the existential interests of downstream states Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopia says it will continue developing the GERD, a multibillion-dollar hydropower project it says is vital for electricity and economic growth and a symbol of national sovereignty.
Officials insist that use of the Blue Nile, which supplies the majority of the Nile’s total flow, follows the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization and “has no obligation to seek permission from anyone to use natural resources within its own borders.”