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EU resumes normal relations with
Palestinian Authority
The Council of the European Union meeting in Luxembourg
on 18 June decided that the EU would resume normal
relations with the Palestinian Authority immediately.
With this objective, the EU will develop the conditions
for urgent practical and financial assistance including
direct financial support to the government, support to
the Palestinian Civilian Police through the resumption
of EUPOL COPPS, the resumption of the EU Border
Assistance Mission (EUBAM) Rafah and intensive efforts
to build the institutions of the future Palestinian
state.
In its Conclusions, the Council “condemns in the
strongest possible terms the violent coup perpetrated by
Hamas militias, in particular attacks against and the
destruction of the legitimate security services of the
Palestinian Authority, the summary execution of many of
its members, the attacks against hospitals and the cruel
treatment of captives.”
In calling for an urgent political solution of the
crisis, the EU expressed its full support for President
Abbas and his decisions taken within his mandate to
declare a state of emergency and to install an emergency
government for the Palestinian Territories under Prime
Minister Fayyad. The Council went on to state that the
EU would do its utmost to ensure the provision of
emergency and humanitarian assistance to the population
of Gaza, “whom it will not abandon.” |
