Egypt is leveraging its relationship with EU to pressure Ethiopia on GERD

Egypt is leveraging its relationship with the EU on issues such as migration toapply pressure on Ethiopia on the Grand Renaissance Dam, writes Albaraa Abdullah for Al Monitor. This was evident when Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel last month, where migration topped the agenda but saw the latter come out in support of Egypt’s position on the Nile Basin Initiative. Egypt is also looking to leverage its trade relations with the EU to exert pressure, by projecting itself as the gateway to Africa. “Egypt is acting at the international and regional levels to pressure Ethiopia,” says the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs’ Rakha Hassan. This includes appointing the acting head of the General Intelligence Service, Maj. Gen. Tarek Sallam, as Egypt's ambassador to Uganda and the appointment of Mohamed Idris, Egypt's former ambassador to Ethiopia and the AU as Egypt's envoy to the UN.