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 Foreign Affairs Minister Gedu Andargachew today has received and discussed with the European Union Ambassador to Ethiopia, Johan Borgstam.

In their discussions regarding current situations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Gedu thanked the European Union for taking the initiative to participate in the ongoing tripartite talks as one of the observers.

The two have also underscored that the lively cooperation and understanding between the European Union and Ethiopia in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic should further be strengthened.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt yesterday held a tripartite meeting on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The meeting was held in the presence of observers from South Africa, the European Union (EU) and the United States, according to the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia.

It discussed on issues related to procedures, role of observers, measures required to continue negotiation and unresolved outstanding issues.

Each country forwarded its own agenda for negotiation at the meeting conducted via the video conferencing technology.

At the end, the three countries reached consensus to hold series of meeting over the coming days.

According to the Ministry, agreement is yet to be reached among the three countries regarding the role of the observers.

Sudan’s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Prof. Yasir Abbas Mohamed, said the meeting took place in a positive spirit and the discussion was fruitful.

The meeting will also continue today.

Foreign Affairs Minister Gedu Andargachew held phone conversation with his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor on various bilateral and International issues.

During their conversation, the two ministers agreed to further boost the longstanding relationship between their respective countries.

Reaffirming to work together to prevent and contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministers noted that forging a joint approach to tackle the scourge is indispensable to get a lasting victory over the dominance of the pandemic.

In addition to bilateral issues of common interest, the ministers have also exchanged views about the trilateral talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Following Gedu’s briefings on the GERD, Naledi Pandor said unresolved issues should get solution only through dialogue.

Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Institute has stated that members of it committee stand firmly behind their decision of last year to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2019 to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed.

In an official letter issued today, Olav Njolstad, Director of Norwegian Nobel Institute said the committee has never recognized its decision nor, as for now, has it any intention to do so regarding the Peace Prize Awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed.

The statues of the Norwegian Nobel Committee do not allow it to revoke a Peace Prize once awarded, he said.

“The same goes for the other Nobel Committees and Nobel Prizes as well. Indeed, not a single Nobel Prize has ever been revoked since the first prizes were awarded back in 1901.” the letter added.

Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Yasser Abbas, said the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is safer than the dams in Sudan and Egypt.

“The Renaissance Dam’s degree of safety is better than that of Sudanese dams and Egypt’s High Dam, based on some studies,” Abbas said in a television interview.

This, he explained, is due to the materials and technology used in its construction.

“We only side with our interests, and sometimes they go along with those of Egypt or Ethiopia. When we said that the Renaissance Dam is beneficial to us, we were accused of siding with Ethiopia,” he indicated.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been in talks for a couple of years in an effort to reach an agreement on the dam. Egypt fears that Ethiopia’s dam will reduce its water supplies.

However, Ethiopia says the dam was not intended to harm Egypt’s interests but has been built to generate electricity.