The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday called on the European Union to maintain its relationship with and funding of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, contrary to what some 20 countries have done, following allegations that a dozen employees of the organisation took part in the Hamas attacks against Israel on 7 October.
In the margins of the informal Foreign Affairs Council meeting held in Brussels to discuss the EU’s relations with Africa and Turkey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met with the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, to whom he explained that Spain has decided to continue its aid to UNRWA, because it considers this organisation to be “essential for the support of the Palestinian people and stability in the Middle East”.
This was explained by the head of Spanish diplomacy, who, however, specified that Spain is following “with the utmost interest” the results of the internal investigation opened by the United Nations to determine whether these workers were involved in the attacks of 7 October.
Following this news, the Spanish government assured that it would maintain its aid to UNRWA, despite the fact that the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and a dozen European countries announced that they were suspending their funding.
Speaking to reporters, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that “the EU has not suspended funding to UNRWA”, adding that there is “a lot of misinformation”, with “reports,” he said, “that everyone is suspending their funding, when in fact very few countries have said so clearly”.
Borrell gave France as an example of a country that has taken the “precautionary measure” of waiting for the internal investigation before handing over the next tranche of funding. “There has been a lot of fake news (…). Germany has not suspended, France has not suspended, Spain has not suspended,…”, he said.
According to Borrell, the “general feeling” of the EU-27 is that the UN agency is essential as a humanitarian actor in the Gaza Strip, as well as for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the West Bank.
As for the situation in Gaza, José Manuel Albares insisted to the press on calling for “a permanent and immediate ceasefire”, as “this spiral of violence has to end”. He added that “once the guns fall silent”, it will be time to hold a peace conference in order to move towards the creation of a Palestinian state, as “it will be what brings peace and security” to the area.
On the attacks launched on Friday by the United States in Iraq and Syria, Albares said that the bombings of the last few hours were “the response” to a series of “terrorist attacks” that Spain “firmly condemns”.
With regard to the EU’s relations with Africa, the subject of the ministerial briefing, Albares stressed that the Sahel is “a priority area” for Spain, which is why he hopes that the EU will continue to maintain “an important presence” in this area, supporting “democratic countries” and blocs such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
