Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Saturday accused Ethiopia of "endangering the lives of millions in the two downstream states" of Egypt and Sudan through unilateral actions on its mega Nile dam. Addressing the high-level debate of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, Abdelatty condemned Ethiopia's "destabilising unilateral policies" in the Horn of Africa and the Eastern Nile Basin, highlighting its recent finalisation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) construction. "Egypt has long sought to strengthen cooperation among the Nile Basin states… In contrast, Ethiopia has chosen to violate international law and impose a fait accompli through its unilateral policies," the foreign minister remarked. "Ethiopia has… announced the completion of its dam while dreaming, or rather deluding itself, that Egypt would forget its existential rights and interests in the Nile." His remarks came after Ethiopia this month inaugurated the $5bn Nile dam, ignoring Egyptian and Sudanese calls for a legally-binding agreement to govern its filling and operation. Egypt and Sudan argue that such a deal would ensure their water rights, especially during droughts. Egypt, which depends on the Nile for more than 98% of its water needs, has repeatedly asserted that the unilateral filling and operation of the dam pose an existential threat. On 9 September, the North African nation submitted a formal letter to the UN Security Council condemning the Nile dam's inauguration as an "illegal unilateral measure." During his UNGA address, Abdelatty stressed that Egypt is capable of protecting its water rights and will not compromise them. "As they [Ethiopia] resort to stalling while threatening the lives of millions in the downstream states, we will not relent in protecting our rights, and we are capable of doing so," he declared. The foreign minister said Egypt remains open to judicial and arbitration mechanisms under international law but questioned any genuine intent from the Ethiopian side to abide by them. "If anyone boasts of commitment to international law, we are fully prepared to address the matter before judicial and arbitration mechanisms, should there be sincere intent to submit to these frameworks, which, in reality, has never and will never exist," Abdelatty said. Over more than a decade of talks, Egypt and Sudan have blamed Ethiopia's intransigence for repeated deadlocks. In July 2021, the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement urging the three countries to "finalise expeditiously the text of a mutually acceptable and binding agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD." However, negotiations later collapsed without progress. In March 2024, Egypt's Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam announced that Cairo would not engage in further negotiations in the same form, deeming them a "waste of time."
