On Wednesday, Egypt accused Ethiopia of deception and "manipulating the facts" in a statement it issued this week in response to a decision from the recent Arab summit supporting Egypt and Sudan in their dispute with Addis Ababa regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that it had "received with discontent" the decision made at the Arab summit held in Saudi Arabia on May 19, which "reiterated the Egyptian hostile rhetoric" concerning the dam. It indicated that the decision represents an "insult" to the African Union, which is working towards reaching a "friendly negotiated solution" to the dam issue, and "contradicts the cherished and shared history of the African and Arab peoples."
On Wednesday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry responded in a statement asserting that the Ethiopian statement was "misleading and filled with fallacies, manipulating the facts, and a desperate attempt to sow discord between Arab and African nations by portraying Arab support for Egypt's just and responsible stance as an Arab-African conflict."
The Egyptian statement denied the Ethiopian claim that experts from the three countries had agreed on the details of filling the dam, as well as on the guidelines and rules for the initial filling and operation of the dam, calling these "unfounded allegations."
Egypt also refuted Ethiopia's assertion that some Arab countries had warned during the Arab summit against Egypt's attempts to escalate the matter, stating that the Arab decision was made unanimously.
Ethiopia considers the GERD—a project aimed at generating hydroelectric power, costing $4 billion—as critical for supporting its economic development. However, Egypt and Sudan view it as a serious threat to their vital water supplies.
In August of the previous year, Ethiopia announced it had completed the third filling phase of the massive reservoir it is constructing on the Blue Nile and disclosed in February of the same year that it had begun generating electricity from the dam.
Egypt claims that Ethiopia's "unilateral" actions violate the Declaration of Principles agreement signed by the three countries in 2015. Diplomatic efforts over many years have failed to resolve the dispute.
