Egypt rejects unilateral Nile Basin measures, vows to safeguard people’s resources

BERLIN – 3 December 2025: Egypt will take all measures allowed under international law to protect its people’s existential resources, Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday as he discussed the water security file with German lawmakers.

Abdelatty met with members of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee in Berlin, reaffirming rejection of any unilateral actions in the Eastern Nile Basin.

He stressed the need for adherence to international legal principles governing shared water resources and for cooperation on the basis of consensus and mutual benefit.

Egypt has repeatedly warned against Ethiopia’s unilateral filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which could affect the Egyptian share of Nile water, an existential lifeline for its population of more than 100 million people.

In October, Egypt blamed Ethiopia for creating a “man-made flood” that “placed the lives and resources of the populations of the two downstream countries (Egypt and Sudan) at risk” due to “hasty and uncoordinated filling” of the recently inaugurated dam.