Europeans are divided on maintaining aid to Palestine

Suspension of all EU payments to Palestine. Then suspension of suspension. Rarely has the Commission caught its feet in the carpet to this extent, arousing the ire of certain Member States - Spain, France, Luxembourg, Ireland, Belgium, etc. - and leading the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to urgently call the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. On Tuesday morning, the Commission tried to reassure, while EU foreign ministers met urgently in the afternoon in Muscat (Oman) around High Representative Josep Borrell and in the presence of their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts. .

This deplorable sequence began on Monday afternoon when the Hungarian Commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, in charge of the EU Neighborhood, posted messages on people, it is not possible to continue to act as if nothing had happened,” he said, announcing that “all payments are immediately suspended.” After several hours of silence, the Commission clarified things in the evening. Brussels will begin a review of all aid provided to Palestine “to ensure that no EU funding indirectly allows a terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel”.

Watch the videoEU and Gulf plead for “sustainable financial support” for Palestinians, assures Josep Borrell

Given that no disbursement was planned in the short term, there will be no suspension of payment, we assure. In addition, this review does not concern humanitarian aid to Palestine, managed by United Nations agencies and NGOs, we also recall, suggesting that Israel's response could require more substantial aid. to the Palestinians. The EU is the largest contributor to financial support for Palestine. According to the European External Action Service, 1.2 billion euros are planned for the period 2021-2024. Half of this envelope has already been paid in 2021 and 2022.

Oliver Varhelyi is not his first attempt. Close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, himself a supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had already blocked some 215 million euros in 2021 and for many months, conditioning their payment on a revision of Palestinian school textbooks which, according to him, incited violence against Israel. Ursula von der Leyen finally announced the release of the funds in May 2022.

The positions of the Hungarian commissioner are only the tip of the cracks that the EU is experiencing on the Palestinian question and which are once again highlighted by the Hamas attack on Israel. While France, Italy, Spain and Ireland have said they are in favor of maintaining aid, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called for the suspension of payments "from now on", and Germany is shown to be very careful. As for Austria, it suspended them on Monday. Before the Muscat meeting, during a press conference with Gulf leaders, Josep Borrell set out the lines he wanted his counterparts to endorse: condemnation of the Hamas attack, Israel's right to retaliate “in compliance with international law” and the maintenance of aid to Palestine.