Borrell: No proof of EU-funded NGOs working with Palestinian terror groups
Reports by the Strategic Affairs Ministry and the research institute NGO Monitor have shown that senior members of the PFLP terror group lead organizations funded by the EU.
By LAHAV HARKOVFILE PHOTO: European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, holds a virtual news conference on the approval of Operation Irini, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium March 31, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/FRANCOIS LENOIR/FILE PHOTO)
There is no evidence of EU funds going to Palestinian terrorist groups, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell wrote in response to calls by members of the European Parliament to ensure those funds are not misused.“To this day, the EU has not received any substantiated report indicating any suspicion of deviation of funds for terrorist purposes in the Palestinian territories,” Borrell wrote.Reports by the Strategic Affairs Ministry and the research institute NGO Monitor have shown that senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) – designated a terrorist group by the EU, US, Canada and Israel – lead organizations funded by the EU.The EU’s foreign envoy pointed out the delegations to Israel and the West Bank and Gaza “have been asked to look deeply into the matter,” as part of an internal review process.Borrell also cited the EU’s rules prohibiting any EU aid going “directly or indirectly to entities, individuals or groups, which have been designated under EU restrictive measures or to their representatives.”EU funding for Palestinian NGOs drew increased attention this year when Palestinian NGOs demanded the EU erase a stipulation that aid only go to organizations with no ties to EU-designated terrorist groups. In May, a letter to the Palestinian NGO Network from Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, EU representative to the West Bank and Gaza, came to light, which stated that Palestinians affiliated with terrorist groups may take part in EU-funded activities. The letter said that since there are only terrorist organizations on the EU’s “restrictive measures” blacklist and not individuals, people with ties to those organizations would not be banned.A week later, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to make sure funds do not go to “any cause of form of terrorism and/or religious and political radicalization.”Days later, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said he instructed the heads of the EU delegations to Israel and the West Bank and Gaza to probe the allegations.“If there is any concern, any concern, we will act immediately. There is no terrorist financing from EU funds, as long as there are EU funds, this cannot happen, this will not be tolerated, and if it happens, it will be rectified. And I will see it to it myself that it is done and delivered,” he said.MEP Charlie Weimers, a conservative from Sweden, and Bert-Jan Ruissen of the Netherlands responded to Borrell’s letter this week by citing a Palestinian Media Watch report on EU funding for the PA being funneled to the PFLP, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Palestinian Liberation Front – all EU-designated terrorist groups – via the PLO.“Is this not direct or indirect funding to terrorist organizations?” Weimers tweeted, adding a shrugging man emoji.Borrell touted EU support for Palestinian institutions in an opinion piece he published in The Jerusalem Post earlier this week, saying financial support has reached more than €600 million per year.
