EU willing to play more active role in GERD issue

EU willing to play more active role in GERD issue

The EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa Annette Weber on Tuesday expressed the European bloc’s readiness to play a greater role in resolving the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam dispute between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.

Weber’s statements came on the sidelines of her visit to Egypt and the region.

She met with the Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Mohamed Abdel-Aty, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We are ready to discuss further, and have sent good signals during our meeting with many Egyptian officials”, she said, adding that they have expressed to be more active in cooperating on water needs.

Weber continued: “Our role is to follow and observe the negotiating process under the umbrella of the African Union, as it is the leader of mediation, and we are observing with the United Nations and US, we do not have an observer team, but we have follow-up experts.”

Ethiopia announced earlier in February the start of producing electricity for the first time from GERD, despite contentions from downstream nations Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated the partial commencing of power generation of GERD.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry slammed Ethiopia’s unilateral start