Tunisia expressed its astonishment at Ethiopia’s response to the presidential statement of the UN Security Council on the “Renaissance Dam” negotiations, which are disputed between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
This came in a statement by the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, Thursday, a day after Ethiopia announced that Tunisia had “committed a historic misstep” by pushing it to request a position from the Security Council on the dam issue.
The statement stated that Tunisia “expresses its astonishment at the statement of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling into question its sincere and permanent commitment to defending African issues in all international forums and during its membership in the Security Council.”
He explained that “since the beginning of the negotiation on the draft presidential statement of the Security Council, close coordination and continuous consultation has taken place with all concerned countries, and that this initiative was not directed against any party.”
He added, “The aim of the initiative is to encourage the concerned countries to resume negotiations in a constructive manner, to value the pivotal role of the African Union and to enhance the support of the international community in sponsoring these negotiations.”
He continued, “Tunisia stresses the importance of negotiations as the only way to overcome all differences in the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, based on its keenness that the Nile River remain a source of cooperation, peace and development for all countries in the region.”
And on Wednesday, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said, in a statement, that Tunisia “committed a historic slip” that undermines its role as an alternate member of the UN Security Council on an African seat.
Last July, Tunisia submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, which included a call for a new round of direct negotiations between the three countries, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, regarding the Renaissance Dam.
On Wednesday, the Security Council called on the three countries to resume the stalled negotiations for months over the dam being built by Addis Ababa on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile.
Egypt and Sudan exchange accusations with Ethiopia of being responsible for the failure of negotiations on the dam, sponsored by the African Union about a year ago, as part of a negotiating process that began about 10 years ago. Due to disagreements overfilling the dam with water and its operation.
