The European Union (E.U.) on Tuesday set three conditions for the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (PA) to adhere to in order to continue receiving funding from the E.U. The E.U. Ambassador Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal stated that all ministers of any Palestinian government must be committed to renouncing violence, recognizing Israel as a state and accepting previous agreements made with Israel (including the ‘Roadmap’ plan).European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the Associated Press Tuesday morning, "For us, it is fundamental. We cannot cooperate with an organization that won’t renounce violence and be able to negotiate with the other side."
Palestinian aid money for 2006 from the European Commission will total around $304 million, channeled through U.N. relief agencies and independent aid groups. Last year, about $50 million in aid was frozen because of perceived financial mismanagement in the Palestinian Authority.
At a meeting in London on Tuesday, the ‘Quartet’ of potential Mideast peace negotiators — the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union met to determine the fate of planned Palestinian aid money.
Said Solana, "It’s my guess that a good number of people who voted for Hamas didn’t vote for the Hamas platform. They voted for a group of people they believed were less corrupt. … I don’t think that the majority of the people that voted for Hamas voted to be an Islamic Palestine. Palestine has been the most secular societies in the Middle East."
