Tigrai Onlne - June 09, 2014
The newly elected President of Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on his inauguration speech said "I will not allow the Grand Renaissance Dam damage Egypt's relationship with sister Ethiopia, or rest of Africa."
The Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom took part in the inauguration in Cairo. Dr. Tedros met the newly elected president of Egypt and had a productive discussion with him. Dr. Tedros Adhanom said on his Facebook official page “Pleased to meet President El Sisi of Egypt and had candid discussion. He reiterated his readiness for cooperation with Ethiopia based on trust and confidence and open a new era of partnership. I assured him Ethiopia's commitment to those principles. We also agreed to reactivate the tripartite Sudan Egypt and Ethiopia technical dialogue and to complement it with high level political consultations. He further added “Ethiopia appreciates these positive messages and we assure President El Sisi and Egyptian brothers and sisters that we believe the same. We are determined to take our relationship with Egypt to a higher level by building trust and confidence. If there's a will there is a way.”
It seems the Ethiopian government is doing what they can to maintain a reasonable working relationship with Egypt. Sending such a high level delegation led by the Ethiopian Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros Adhanom indicates Ethiopia serious about the two countries relationship.
Time will tell if the Egyptian President’s statement sill hold water or he will revert to the usual nonsense after he consolidates his power.
A few weeks ago there have been news reports that Egypt has spent about four million dollars bribing some African leaders to turn them against the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam. We hope President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi will refrain from such stupid and undiplomatic actions.