Egypt says it will use all means under international law to defend water interests

CAIRO – 14 December 2025: Egypt reiterated on Sunday that water security is an existential issue “that cannot be compromised” and that it will defend its water interests by all legal means.

In TV remarks on Sunday, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt had made its position clear, under directives from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and with the unity of state institutions with regard to the water file.

He that the negotiating track with Ethiopia regarding the Nile file had been exhausted and had “run into a dead end.”

The foreign minister emphasized that “Egypt has the full right to use all available means, in accordance with international law, to defend its water interests if any harm occurs.”

Asked if these means include military options, he said, “once again, in line with what international law guarantees states in terms of the right to defend their interests if harm occurs, Egypt has the full right to defend itself.”

Egypt has repeatedly called on Ethiopia to sign a binding legal agreement governing the operation and filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to ensure it does not harm the water rights of Egypt and Sudan during droughts or floods.

Cairo has warned against Ethiopia’s unilateral filling and operation of the dam, which can hold up to 74 billion cubic meters of water, emphasizing that the Nile is an existential lifeline for Egypt’s population of more than 100 million.

Addis Ababa has rejected calls from Sudan and Egypt for a binding deal, insisting that Ethiopia has the right to use its resources for its own development and asserting that the dam poses no risk to the two downstream countries.

In October, Egypt accused Ethiopia of creating a “man-made flood” that put the lives and resources of populations in the two downstream countries at risk, citing “hasty and uncoordinated filling” of the recently inaugurated dam.