The European Union (EU) will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority (PA) with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8bn), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told Reuters in an interview.
Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance.
“We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won’t be strong enough and credible in order to be an interlocutor, not for only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel,” Suica said.
The commissioner’s remarks came ahead of a first ‘high-level political dialogue’ between EU foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials including Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Luxembourg yesterday.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the package of grants and loans, which it said “enhances the ability of national institutions to withstand and provide services, despite the difficult humanitarian conditions and the worsening challenges”.
The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinians and EU officials hope the Palestinian Authority, which runs the West Bank, may also one day take responsibility for Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas fighters comes to an end.
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