Luxembourg (TDI): In the first-ever meeting of the EU-Palestine High-level Political Dialogue, the European Union has announced to support the Palestinian Authority with a €1.6 billion support package, disbursed over two years.
The meeting took place in Luxembourg on Monday, 14 April 2025, and was co-chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Mohammad Mustafa.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) came to be in the mid 90s when Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) signed Oslo Accords. The PA’s purpose was to pave way towards a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Over time, PA faced a crisis of legitimacy and currently, it only represents Fatah – the secular political consortium of Palestinian diaspora. Yet many countries of the world recognize PA as the sole political face of Palestine.
*At a joint press conference following the first EU-Palestine High-Level Political Dialogue in Luxembourg*
_*Mustafa:* What we are witnessing is not just a war—it is an attempt to erase a people and a cause_
_*Mustafa:* There can be no lasting peace without accountability—Israel… pic.twitter.com/qhUBOy1eWr— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) April 14, 2025
After the meeting, Kaja Kallas and Mohammad Mustafa delivered press remarks. Kallas expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine in the face of the brutal destruction, death, and loss they are facing every day.
She addressed Mustafa and said that told the PA can count on the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Rafah (EUBAM) for taking care of the sick and transporting people to safety.
She also expressed concern over the situation unfolding in the West Bank and affirmed that the EU is strictly opposed to Israel’s settlement policy.
Kallas acknowledged that there is no military solution to this war and only a negotiated two-state solution can bring peace to Palestine.
She also called for cooperation between the security forces of Israel and the PA, while stating that the EU fully supports the Palestinian Authority in the reforms that the latter has undertaken and plans to execute.
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She also told the press that the €1.6 billion support is for essential infrastructure, humanitarian aid, and refugees.
PM Mustafa, in his remarks, said: “Europe has long supported the two-State solution, and today, that must translate into concrete steps to end the prolonged Israeli occupation.”
“We thank the EU member States that have recognized the State of Palestine and call on others to follow suit. Two states cannot exist if one perpetuates its occupation against the other.”
“Israel’s continuous attempts to weaken the Palestinian Authority—financially, politically, or otherwise—pose not only a threat to us, but regional stability as a whole.”
“Likewise, UNRWA remains a lifeline for the Palestinian people and to the stability in the region,” he said.
Nuzhat Rana is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
