MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2021) Addis Ababa has expressed hope that the new US administration under Joe Biden would not interfere in the negotiations over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), unlike the office of former President Donald Trump, Ethiopian Ambassador to Moscow Alemayehu Tegenu told Sputnik in an interview.
Earlier in January, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia resumed talks over the long-standing dam dispute under the auspices of the African Union after they were suspended for a month, as no breakthrough was reached in previous rounds. Washington had made attempts to play a mediation role in the dam talks over 2020, but those fell through after the Trump administration came with a document, which Ethiopia subsequently rejected, saying that it favors the interest of Egypt.
In late October, Ethiopia criticized Trump's remarks that Egypt would "blow up" the dam, thus escalating tensions between the two African nations. Along with that, the United States had previously suspended some aid to Addis Ababa over the "lack of progress" during the talks.
"I hope the new USA government will not put its hand on the matter as the previous government did. As you remember the Trump, administration drafted a document that are against the interest of Ethiopia and we did not accept and recognize the existence of it. ... I hope the new administration will not force any of the negotiating parties to accept anything that is not in the benefit of them," Tegenu said.
Addis Ababa firmly believes that all of the disagreements can be resolved through the African institutions, the ambassador added, noting that Ethiopia expects impartiality from the international community.
In December, Ethiopia's charges d'affaires in Cairo was summoned by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry To explain comments by the Addis Ababa's foreign ministry spokesperson and former ambassador to Egypt Dina Mufti implying that Egypt sought to paint Ethiopia as the cause of internal issues.
Since 2011, the Ethiopian government has pushed ahead with the construction of the GERD on the Blue Nile River. The project, which is set to become Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant, is opposed by Egypt and Sudan over the concerns that the dam will affect their water security.
