The European Union announces for this Tuesday, October 10 an extraordinary meeting of the 27 foreign ministers in order to take stock of the situation in Israel and Palestine and to assess the impact of the Hamas offensive on the involvement of the EU in the Middle East. In the meantime, the unanimous condemnation of Europeans is already leading to a first tangible consequence: while the EU prides itself on being “ the main financier of the Palestinians », the Commission announces the suspension, the freezing of payments, for development aid from which the Palestinians were to benefit.
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According to the European Commissioner responsible for neighborhood policy, “ the scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people marks a turning point, it is not possible to continue with business as usual “. Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi specifies that all current projects will be re-examined as well as the entire development aid policy for Palestine. And any new budgetary proposal will be postponed until further notice, reports our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet.
Under the Common Strategy for Palestine for the period 2021-24, the EU common budget “ supports the construction of the Palestinian state » to the tune of one billion two hundred million euros; there are 691 million left for 2023-24 which will therefore be put in brackets.
The Union finances what it describes as “ essential services ” for the ” recurring expenses » of the Palestinian Authority: salaries of civil servants, projects in the field of health, social assistance for vulnerable families. Then there are development aid projects for democratic governance, the rule of law, water and energy
The committee emphasizes that Europe does not finance Hamas either directly or indirectly (all recipients of EU payments must guarantee that funds cannot go to organizations on the Union’s blacklist such as Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization). and with whom no contact has therefore taken place since 2007), this clarification could be perplexing since it is the Palestinian Authority which is affected by this freezing of payments.
Spain ‘disagrees’ with suspension of aid to Palestinians
Spain’s left-wing government expressed its ” faintness ” and his ” disagreement » following the European Union’s decision to suspend its aid to the Palestinians after the Hamas attack. The head of Spanish diplomacy, the socialist José Manuel Albares, had a telephone conversation with the European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who announced this decision, “ to express your disagreement », indicated the Spanish ministry.
The ministry also indicated that Mr. Albares had asked the head of European diplomacy, his compatriot Josep Borrel, that this suspension be put on the agenda of Tuesday’s meeting of European foreign ministers who did not been put “ aware of this decision » of the Commission.
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