By DPA
Paris : The European Union (EU) will provide $650 million in grants to the Palestinians in 2008, EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Monday at the international donors’ conference here.
“In 2008, we will make a contribution of 440 million euros ($650 million) in grants to the Palestinians,” she told the representatives of some 90 nations present at the donors’ conference for the Palestinians.
Of that amount, 115 million euros will be earmarked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and for humanitarian aid, she said.
The remaining 325 million euros “will contribute to the implementation of the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan,” which is to be detailed at the conference by acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
In addition, the European Investment Bank will make an additional pledge, Ferrero-Waldner said.
She called on Israel “to lift movement restrictions, as a precondition for the revival of the Palestinian economy” and also to “avoid acts that could prejudge final status issues.”
Meanwhile, Sweden Monday said it would give 1.37 billion kronor ($210 million) to the Palestinian government for 2007 and 2008.
“If the peace talks that resumed in Annapolis Nov 27 are to be successful, they have to be combined with comprehensive measures to strengthen the Palestinian Authority,” Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said in a statement.
“The discussions in Paris are an important step in that process,” he added. Bildt was attending the Paris conference along with International Development Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson.
While calling for a halt to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and an end to the isolation of Gaza, Bildt and Carlsson said rocket attacks on Israel must cease and the Palestinians take greater charge of security.