The European Union continues pumping millions into the treasury of the Palestinian Authority so that the thieves can steal more and more and the PA President and the big crew of buddies which travel in his company during his various tours around the world, staying at luxury hotels and buying expensive suits of silk and luxury shoes from renowned brands.
Palestinians stressed that PA elements have spent millions on their trips and the travel abroad. President Abbas and his staff reportedly spend over 10 million dollar monthly only for travelling. The PA elements that hold the so-called VIP passports are always travelling with their beautiful secretaries and an army of body-guards, and wherever they go, they stay at five-star hotels and eat at expensive restaurants.
The EU recently released on May 6 2013, a financial package worth €19.2 million Euros from money of EU taxpayers, provided to the Palestinian Authority in order to pay the salaries of the employees of the so-called PA “security” coordination with Israel, the retirement pensions and the social security allowances for people who live in poverty in Palestine
The PA “security” spends the world’s highest part of the state budget when compared to the other countries: of the PA budget, including donations and aid, 40% goes to the military. In Jordan, the already excessive military budget of that country only reaches 20% or so of their national budget. In France, another country with a high military expenditure, only 5.5% of the national budget goes to the military. Most of the Middle East countries spend 7% to 12% of their national budgets on the military. But ONLY in occupied Palestine, which relies for its budget on begging donations from Western countries and hand gifts from some Arab countries, spends 35% – 40% of its budget on its useless military.
EU Neighbourhood Info – 06-06-2013 – The European Union has contributed approximately €19.2 million to the payment of May’s salaries and pensions of nearly 75,000 Palestinian civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This contribution, which is channelled through the PEGASE mechanism, is funded by the European Commission (€12.5 million) and the governments of Denmark (around €4.7 million) and Finland (€2 million).
“This contribution once more demonstrates the EU’s determination to sustain the work of the Palestinian Authority and ensure the provision of essential services to the Palestinian people”, said the EU Representative Mr. John Gatt-Rutter. “It is also a clear example of EU Member States working together to realize our common political objective of an independent, democratic and viable state of Palestine. I would like to thank Denmark and Finland for their contribution to the programme”, added the EU Representative.
Most of the European Union’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) is channelled through PEGASE (Mécanisme Palestino-Européen de Gestion de l’Aide Socio-Economique), the financial mechanism launched in 2008 to support the PA Reform and Development Plan (2008-2010) and the subsequent Palestinian National Plan (2011-2013). As well as helping to meet a substantial proportion of its running costs, European funds support major reform and development programmes in key ministries, to help prepare the PA for statehood in line with the state-building plan put forward by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in August 2009.
Since February 2008, around €1.49 billion have been disbursed through the PEGASE Direct Financial Support programmes. In addition, the EU has provided assistance to the Palestinian people through UNRWA and a wide range of cooperation projects.
