A tripartite meeting between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt started in Addis Ababa this morning. A continuation of the Khartoum meeting held last month, today's meeting in Ethiopia holds as agenda the filling and operation of Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile.

Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt are expected to reach an agreement on remaining issues, on which they could not reach an agreement so far. In addition to the Addis Ababa meeting, the three countries will meet in Washington D.C. on January 15, 2020, to finalize their agreements so far.

If an agreement is not reached by January 15, 2020, the countries will invoke article 10 of the 2015 Declaration of Principles, which states, “The three countries commit to settle any dispute resulting from the interpretation or application of the declaration of principles through talks or negotiations based on the goodwill principle."

Article 10 of the 2015 Declaration of Principles goes on to add, “If the parties involved do not succeed in solving the dispute through talks or negotiations, they can ask for mediation or refer the matter to their heads of states or prime ministers.”

Source: FBC