Ethiopia declines Sudan’s call for quadripartite mediation on GERD
March 16, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – Ethiopia on Tuesday reiterated its call for the resumption of the direct tripartite talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in an indirect rejection of a Sudanese proposal for a quadripartite mediation.
Speaking during his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Dina Mufti, Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that Ethiopian Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen and Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto had discussed the GERD and border standoff on Friday12 March.
“Regarding the GERD the two have discussed that the tripartite need to resume dialogue to reach amicable solutions,” Mufti said.
The Ethiopian diplomat further told SkyNews Arabia that his country is committed to the African Union efforts to broker an agreement on the GERD filling and operation.
“We have respect for the African Union, and we are counting on it to reach a solution on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam,” he said.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok several days ago sent a letter to the African Union Chairperson, United Nation chief, top diplomats of the EU and the U.S requesting their mediation to reach an agreement over the GERD.
The AU Peace and Security Council held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Sudan.
In his statement to the videoconference meeting, the head of the African Affairs Department at the Foreign Ministry in Khartoum Khalid Farah stressed the need to reach a comprehensive and binding agreement that takes into account the interests of the three parties.
He further underscored that any unilateral action by Ethiopia poses a threat to the nearly 20 million people living on the banks of the Blue Nile.
Khartoum says that the European Union and the United States are already involved as observers in the process and can strengthen the African Union role with the UN support of the United Nations.
(ST)