On Tuesday 6 February, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn announced that the EU would release its funds early for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to compensate, in part, for the cut in American aid decided upon by US President Donald Trump.
"The European Commission will release its payment (around €82 million) by the end of February, which is much earlier than initially planned", he said at a European Parliament plenary debate, adding that the EU would do likewise in 2019 and 2020 – "at least to reassure UNRWA from our side". Some EU member states have also committed to doing this.
"The EU will not be able to compensate for the substantial cuts", Hahn nevertheless warned, saying that every year the EU and its member states give UNRWA annual help of up to €460 million.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini meanwhile stated that the EU and its 28 member states "would do everything they could to avoid the repercussions" of the US decision. She also called on donors throughout the world to step up their efforts to help UNRWA.
Trump announced in January that his country intended to give the UN agency €60 million for 2018, compared with €360 million in 2017. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)