- The Foreign Minister also stressed the serious water security challenge facing the Middle East and the African continent, some of whose countries are located in the driest and most desert regions of the world.
- Shoukry’s remarks came during his speech at the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs annual conference on Saturday.
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry has said that Ethiopia obstructs efforts to reach a legally binding framework for the filling and operating of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Shoukry’s remarks came during his speech at the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs annual conference on Saturday. The conference’s theme focused on the repercussions of the Russian / Ukrainian crisis on the Middle East and Egypt. Shoukry reviewed the most important determinants of the Egyptian position on that crisis and Egypt’s strenuous efforts to interact at the bilateral and multilateral levels to contain the negative economic repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis on the Egyptian economy.
The minister stressed the need to review and develop the concept of international security in such a way that the values of dialogue, cooperation and understanding of the needs of the other overcome the logic of force and disregard, taking into account the political, economic, cultural and security rights of others, to prevent emerging conflicts from turning into protracted conflicts. He also stressed the importance of preserving the concept of the national state, addressing the most prominent challenges witnessed by Egypt’s regional neighbours in Libya, Sudan and Palestine, in addition to the humanitarian, economic and social repercussions imposed by the challenges of climate change, which have become additional burdens on states, governments and peoples.
The Foreign Minister also stressed the serious water security challenge facing the Middle East and the African continent, some of whose countries are located in the driest and most desert regions of the world, as this challenge comes in conjunction with the desire of some upstream countries to monopolize and control the water resource without regard to the capabilities of other riparian countries. He also pointed out Egypt’s launch of its national climate change Strategy 2050 in May 2022, its continuous efforts to rely on new and renewable energy sources and traditional energy resources, and the most notable successes achieved by Egypt through hosting the COP27 climate conference.
