EU backs down from decision to suspend aid payments to Palestinians
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Borrell says the suspension of the payments would have damaged the EU interests in the region.
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European Union flags flap in the wind at half staff outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022. (AP Photo)
The European Commission will not suspend due assistance payments to Palestinians, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday, shortly after the EU neighborhood commissioner announced an end to "all payments".
"The suspension of the payments — punishing all the Palestinian people — would have damaged the EU interests in the region," Borrell wrote on social media.
The review of the EU's assistance for Palestine announced by the European Commission will not suspend the due payments, as clarified by the Commission’s press release.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 9, 2023
The top EU diplomat said that the review of the EU's assistance for Palestine announced by the commission earlier in the day would not suspend "the due payments, as clarified by the Commission's press release." This is despite the commission saying that no due payments were forthcoming.
"The Commission will carry out this review as soon as possible... In the meantime, as there were no payments foreseen, there will be no suspension of payments," the commission said.
The EU executive added that the review did not concern humanitarian assistance provided under European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
The announcement by Neighborhood Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi that the EU was freezing all assistance for Palestine over the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood by the Palestinian Resistance drew criticism from several member states, including Spain, Belgium, and Ireland.
The scale of terror and brutality against #Israel and its people is a turning point.
— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) October 9, 2023
There can be no business as usual.
As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of EUR 691m
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Spanish news agency EFE reported, citing government sources, that acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called Borrell to ask for Palestinian aid payments to be put on the agenda of the EU foreign ministers’ emergency meeting on Tuesday.
The Irish Times reported that Ireland was blindsided by Varhelyi’s announcement that appeared on social media. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs argued that there was no legal basis for this decision and that Ireland was not on board.
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