Having failed to thwart the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through the strong cooperation and perseverance of Ethiopians, Egypt has now emerged with a new gamble of encirclement.

Egypt has been deeply alarmed by Ethiopia's request for equitable sea access, which is based on the argument that it is unjust for a nation of over 130 million people to be marginalized from its historical rights to the Red Sea.

Following this, Egypt has spent the recent period weaving another bankrupt diplomatic web under the guise that "the security of the Red Sea is the sole responsibility of the littoral states."

Previously, its intended encirclement policy, attempted by feigning false friendships with the countries surrounding Ethiopia, failed entirely. Now, lacking the courage to provoke or confront Ethiopia directly, it has attempted a proxy plot by transporting large quantities of weapons under the cover of a joint defense agreement with Somalia, a move that has yielded little success.

In Sudan, we have clearly seen that the friendship of Egypt, the mother of conspiracies, stems from selfishness and opportunism rather than genuine sincerity. Egypt views Sudan merely as a backyard for executing its water politics and safeguarding its own interests, never genuinely caring about the peace and prosperity of the Sudanese people.

Egyptian interference has played its own negative role in the tragic civil war and mass displacement that Sudan faces today. To Egypt, the suffering of the Sudanese people means nothing outside the context of its own national interests.

In contrast, through its "Neighbors First" foreign policy, Ethiopia has made tremendous efforts to ensure that the Sudanese resolve their own problems and to halt foreign interference. Furthermore, by taking in millions of refugees and hosting them as if in their second home, Ethiopia has demonstrated its true friendship in practice.

Ethiopia is a symbol of Pan-Africanism, treating the peace of Africa as its own. For the sake of African peace, it has deployed peacekeeping forces to Rwanda, Liberia, Burundi, and Sudan's Abyei region, paying the ultimate sacrifice of life.

The reality in Somalia is no different. Ethiopia is not merely a neighbor to Somalia; the peoples of the two nations share deep cultural, religious, and blood ties. For the past 20 years, Ethiopia has sacrificed the blood of its own children by fighting the terrorist group Al-Shabaab to ensure Somalia's peace and security.

Egypt, however, is playing a major role in destabilizing the region. Under the guise of the new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), it is attempting to deploy its troops near the Ethiopian border. Moreover, by transporting numerous weapons into Somalia, it risks these arms falling into the hands of terrorists.

All this scrambling is not aimed at stabilizing Somalia, but rather at disrupting Ethiopia's development and attempting to resurrect its failed encirclement policy through other means. However, because the Somali people are well aware that their destiny is intertwined with that of the Ethiopian people, Egypt's temporary, destructive maneuvers have not advanced its agenda very far.

Ethiopia exercises all this patience and effort because it fundamentally understands that the peace of its neighbors is its own peace. It firmly believes that if the region's resources are developed cooperatively, the people can be lifted out of poverty and grow together.

Through the Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia has practically proven that whether it is utilizing its water resources or requesting access to the sea, its intention is never to harm anyone, but rather to ensure mutual benefit.

Ethiopia, which asks only for what is rightfully its own and prioritizes fairness, is inevitably bound to replicate the hydro-political victory it achieved on the Abay River with geopolitical and economic supremacy.

Yet, history reminds us once again today that Egypt's age-old conspiracies can only be thwarted when the government and the public stand together for their sovereignty, maintaining a firm and united stance on their national interests just as they did with the Grand Renaissance Dam.

The victory on the Abay River will be repeated on the Red Sea only when we strengthen our internal unity and break the enemy's proxy conspiracies!