CAIRO — Egypt has reiterated that it will not return to negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) unless future talks are aimed at reaching a legally binding agreement that guarantees its water security, amid continued tensions with Ethiopia over the Nile River project.
Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilem, said Cairo’s decision to suspend negotiations in December 2023 remains in effect, arguing that previous rounds of talks failed to produce a workable or enforceable outcome.
Sweilem accused Ethiopia of repeatedly delaying negotiations and reversing previously agreed understandings, adding that Cairo believes earlier mediation efforts did not lead to meaningful progress.
“The decision to suspend negotiations was a sovereign state decision,” he said in an interview with MBC Masr, adding that Egypt would not re-engage in a process that had “reached a deadlock.”
His comments come after remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump expressing readiness to assist in facilitating a resolution to the long-running dispute over the dam, which has been a major source of tension between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan for more than a decade.
While welcoming international involvement, Sweilem stressed that Egypt’s position remains unchanged: any future negotiations must produce a legally binding agreement regulating the filling and operation of the dam.
The minister also sought to reassure Egyptians over national water supplies, saying water levels in Lake Nasser remain stable and are being managed to meet domestic consumption and electricity generation needs.
Egypt has long argued that a binding agreement is essential to protect downstream water security, while Ethiopia maintains that the GERD is a sovereign development project critical to its economic growth and energy production.
Despite multiple rounds of African Union-led and international mediation efforts, the three countries have yet to reach a comprehensive agreement on the dam’s operation, leaving one of Africa’s most significant water disputes unresolved.
