GERD: Ethiopia reaffirms its sovereignty over the Blue Nile in the face of Egyptian "campaigns"

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), built on the Abay (Blue Nile), has sparked a tripartite dispute between Addis Ababa, Cairo, and Khartoum over the sharing of Nile waters since construction began in 2011. This issue regularly resurfaces in regional diplomatic news, as Egypt views the structure as an existential threat to its water supply. According to Eustaz Jamal Bashir, cited by the Ethiopian news agency ENA, "Egypt's campaigns against the GERD cannot alter Ethiopia's sovereign right to use its natural resources, particularly the Abay River." The very succinct source dispatch does not specify Bashir's exact function or the precise context of his statement. The stakes go beyond mere diplomacy: for Ethiopia, the GERD represents a key structural project for hydroelectric production and energy sovereignty; for Egypt, it touches upon the water security of millions of inhabitants dependent on the Nile. From an analytical standpoint, this statement fits into a consistent Ethiopian rhetoric spanning fifteen years, asserting a right to development in the face of a water order historically favorable to Cairo. Lacking additional factual elements in the source, the real scope of this outburst—whether simple domestic communication or a diplomatic signal sent to Egypt—remains an open question.