Egypt, Ethiopia again take dam dispute to UN

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

Egypt and Ethiopia have again raised their long-standing dispute over a dam over the Nile River at the UN, with the two sides making competing claims.

Following Egypt’s letter to the UN Security Council, its neighbor Ethiopia sent a response dismissing Cairo’s concerns as “unfounded allegations,” local media reported Monday.

Claiming that Egypt is “stalling progress, reverting to hardline and unreasonable positions,” Ethiopia also accused Cairo of being interested only in “perpetuating its self-claimed monopoly over the Nile River.”

Egypt earlier lodged a complaint with the UN expressing its "categorical rejection" of Ethiopia's unilateral actions in filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The two sides had earlier sent similar letters to the UN few years back.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty warned that the dam poses a significant threat to regional stability and violates prior agreements.

"Ethiopia's illegal policies will have serious negative impacts on the downstream countries," Abdelatty said.

A dispute between Ethiopia and downstream nations Egypt and Sudan over the construction of the dam has dragged on for 12 years.

The three countries last month failed to reach a resolution in a fourth round of negotiations.

The last four rounds of negotiations took place following a hiatus of more than two years after talks between the three countries broke down in 2021. This followed the failure of an African Union initiative to reconcile their viewpoints.