Hamas’ attack on Israel has renewed the European hemicycle’s attention on the Middle East. The Europeans are not a major player in diplomacy in this region, except for portfolio diplomacy: the EU is the main financial support of the Palestinians throughout the world with an envelope of 1.2 billion paid between 2021 and 2024. The Palestinians are on a drip of this European money, present in their entire structure and daily life.
The decision of European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi to suspend this aid caused an outcry. Faced with pressure from France and Spain, he finally backpedaled. The aid, maintained, will be more controlled to ensure that it does not finance Hamas, declared a terrorist organization and on the EU blacklist since 2001. Europeans have condemned the Hamas attack and say they are very concerned by civilians on both sides…What role can they play in calming this conflict and what geopolitical vision of the region do they share?
A program prepared by Sophie Samaille, Perrine Desplats and Isabelle Romero.
This article is originally published on .france24.com
