Aida Sánchez/Eduardo González
The European Neighborhood Commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, announced yesterday in a message on the social network X that he was “immediately suspending all payments” to Palestine as a consequence of the Hamas attack on Israel this Saturday. However, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, later contradicted him and assured that humanitarian support would continue. The decision has not gone down well with the Spanish government either.
“The scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people is a turning point,” Varhelyi declared. In his message he noted that, “as the largest donor to the Palestinians, the European Commission is reviewing its entire development portfolio, totaling €691 million,” and, therefore, that all projects have been put up for review, including the new budget proposals. This announcement, of which neither the details nor the exact budget items involved are yet known, underlines the European Commission’s position over the last three days.
The European Union is the largest provider of foreign aid to the Palestinians. In line with the objective of a negotiated two-state solution, the EU’s efforts are aimed at promoting greater Palestinian ownership, autonomy and accountability in preparation for future statehood. The EU also supports efforts to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the Palestinian Authority, with a view to enhancing its role and credibility.
Already, three countries have publicly opposed the decision taken by the European Commission. Luxembourg, Spain and Ireland. The latter, in fact, has formally asked Brussels whether it has the legal power to take such a decision.
For its part, sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assured yesterday that Olivér Varhely’s decision on the suspension by the EU of cooperation to Palestine “has caused uneasiness in the Spanish Government” and, for this reason, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, had a telephone conversation with the Commissioner to “convey his disagreement with this decision, which was not known to the Foreign Ministers” of the EU.
Likewise, Minister Albares asked the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, to include this measure as an item on the agenda of the extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council to be held today by videoconference to address, precisely, the situation in Israel and in the region after the latest events.
In calling the videoconference, Borrell assured that “the EU condemns in the strongest possible terms the multiple and indiscriminate attacks perpetrated in Israel by Hamas and deeply deplores the loss of life” and has called for “the immediate cessation of these attacks and this senseless violence, which will only further increase tensions on the ground and seriously undermine the aspirations of the Palestinian people for peace”.
Borrell also warned that the EU “stands in solidarity with Israel, which has the right to defend itself in accordance with international law, against these violent and indiscriminate attacks”, and recalled “the importance of working towards a lasting and sustainable peace by intensifying efforts in the Middle East peace process”.
