European Union to Boost PA Funding with $1.8 Billion Over Three Years

The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told British media in an interview published Monday, April 14.

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, bad governance, and incentivizing terrorism. “We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won’t be strong enough and credible to be an interlocutor, not 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 European Union foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials, including PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in Luxembourg on Monday. 

The PA’s finances have been in disarray for years as donor states have cut back funding that once covered nearly one-third of its $6 billion annual budget, demanding reforms to tackle corruption and waste, and have only gotten worse since thousands of Hamas-led terrorists attacked Israel on October 7.

The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority, pledging 400 million euros in 2024, and EU officials hope the PA may also one day take responsibility for Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas comes to an end. (TOI/VFI News)  

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