2023-10-09 17:40:51
The European Commission announced on Monday the suspension of development aid payments for the Palestinians, before backpedaling in the face of unease among certain member states.
Hungarian Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, in charge of neighborhood policy, announced Monday on the X platform (ex-twitter) that the Commission would immediately suspend “all payments” to the Palestinians.
“As the largest donor to the Palestinians, the European Commission is reviewing its entire development portfolio, worth a total of 691 million euros,” he added.
The announcement quickly created unease among certain Member States. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called the commissioner to express his “disagreement”, then asked the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell that this suspension be put on hold. on the agenda of the meeting of European foreign ministerswhich is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
“Two million people live in Gaza. They are also hostages of Hamas. With these methods, we are pushing them into the arms of the terrorists,” commented Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
“I don’t remember another case of suspension of aid for Palestine: it’s new, and undoubtedly linked to the scale of the attack.”
Result: the Commission backpedaled in a press release, which only mentioned “an urgent review of the European Union’s assistance to Palestine”. “The objective of this review is to ensure that no European funding allows any terrorist organization to carry out attacks once morest Israel,” the Commission said Monday evening.
The European Union has no contacts with Hamas, which it classifies as a terrorist organization and which took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. But she supports the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, who administers the West Banket it finances projects implemented by NGOs, including in the Gaza Strip. For the period 2021-2024, the Union has committed to providing 1.18 billion euros to the Palestinians.
Meeting at Twenty-Sept
While Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed Israel’s right to defend itself in the followingmath of the Hamas terrorist attacks, a Commission spokesperson on Monday stressed the need for it to do so. In respect for international law, which requires a proportionate response, and taking into account international humanitarian law.
“The European Union is not an important player in this conflict because the Israeli-Palestinian issue is divisive between member states.”
During an extraordinary meeting in Oman this Tuesday, the Twenty-Seven will attempt to define a “concerted European position”. Historically, “the European Union is not an important actor in this conflict because the Israeli-Palestinian question is divisive between the member states”, recalls Raoul Delcore, professor at UCLouvain.
If unity is required within European diplomacy when it comes to defending the integrity of Israel, the Palestinian question remains one of the most divisive subjects of international politics, continues this Middle East specialist and of the EU’s foreign policy. Belgium traditionally sides with the countries most sensitive to this issuewhose momentum is often blocked by countries like Hungary or the Czech Republic, which defend a more security posture.
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