Archive – Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa in a press conference from Brussels. – Alexandros Michaelides // European Council
Brussels, 20 years (European Press)
The Palestinian Authority defended the process of reforming the entity, today, Thursday, in Brussels, pointing out that it is not a simple promise, stressing that it is delving deeper into the two-state solution to end the conflict in the Middle East.
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa, in statements from the Community Capital, where he participated in a meeting of the Donors Group for Palestine, defended the national reform agenda implemented by the Palestinian entity. He pointed out that “it is being implemented, and it was not promised, and our partners realize that it is moving forward despite the difficult environment.”
Mustafa detailed that 23 out of over 50 repairs have already been completed. He defended, “We have made great progress in implementing our reform program. We continue to work on it and hope that we will be able to complete this agenda as planned, and perhaps even ahead of schedule.”
The Palestinian leader insisted that reforms and strengthening the Palestinian Authority contribute to a two-state solution, a solution he emphasized as “the only viable end to the conflict.”
He added: “We have made clear that Gaza and the West Bank are a political and geographical unit, and an integral part of the State of Palestine. Their reunification under one legitimate government, one law and one administration is not a slogan, but rather the only viable path towards stability and responsible governance.”
Make Israel pay for reconstruction
Regarding Israel’s role in the reconstruction of Gaza, the Palestinian Prime Minister noted that Israel should be held “responsible” for what happened in the Strip and “contribute significantly, if not completely,” to compensation efforts.
For Brussels, the European Commissioner for Mediterranean Affairs, Dubravka Sojka, avoided asking this question, but affirmed her support for the Palestinian Authority, which she claimed to be the European Union’s interlocutor in the region.
The Commissioner confirmed financial commitments worth $82 million from Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain to contribute to the PEGASE plan, through which the European Union is assisting the Palestinian Authority with its spending this year. In any case, the Brussels meeting was not intended to be a model donor conference, but rather to give the Palestinian Authority space in the international community and strengthen it as a priority partner for the bloc.
In any case, the European executive authority indicated that its support is linked to the reform efforts undertaken by the Palestinian entity. In this regard, she requested that cash assistance be based on “criteria of need and vulnerability.” “It is not intended for prisoners or their families,” Soyka said.
This is how he responded to Israel’s repeated criticism that European aid goes to the families of Hamas members. “We can confirm that not a single euro of European funds has been spent on these controversial payments,” he stressed.
The Croatian Commissioner also defended putting more pressure on Israel so that the Israeli authorities would release Palestinian tax collection funds, estimated at approximately $3,000 million, which would ease the financial bottleneck of the Palestinian Authority.
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