Round of Negotiations on GERD Ended

Khartoum (SUNA) – The Ministers of Water Resources of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed to end the round of negotiations via video conference they are holding on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and return the file to the African Union.

The round of negotiation which began on Sunday 27 October and continued for a week, has been unable to make any tangible progress in the role set by the joint meeting of Foreign and Water Ministers, which had agreed on the experts in the negotiation, the negotiations’ methodology, and its tracks and timetable.

During this round of negotiations the Sudan has maintained its position of refusing to return to negotiations according to the previous methodology, which did not make any progress.

Meanwhile, the Sudan has presented a detailed proposal for giving a greater role to the African Union’s experts to bring the parties’ points of view closer and proposed compromises.

The Ethiopian party has expressed agreement to maximize the role of the African Union experts and, presented a vision similar to that of Sudan,  while the Egyptian party has objected to this proposal and made proposals about continuing negotiations through the previous methods.

Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Professor Yasser Abbas, indicated that Sudan still adheres to the negotiation process under the auspices of the African Union, but with a new methodology in order to reach a satisfactory agreement for all parties on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam.

He stressed that the outstanding technical and legal issues are limited and can be agreed upon with the availability of a political will to all parties.

He pointed out that Sudan cannot negotiate without end and must guarantee the safety of its water facilities, especially since the Lake of Al-Rusayriss Dam is only 15 kilometres from the GERD.