Brussels, 12/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the president of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, appealed for an “urgent” increase in economic and financial aid from the European Union to the Palestinians. This should be done, he explained, without even waiting for the government of national unity in Palestine to formally and fully respect the three criteria set out by the international Quartet (renunciation of violence, acceptance of Israel's right to exist, respect for the agreements concluded with the PLO). After meeting a senior Fatah delegation in Brussels (EUROPE 9403), Rasmussen informed the press that “we need to move further now” as the EU embargo against the Palestinian government and the freezing of direct aid “seriously deteriorates the daily lives of ordinary Palestinians and, consequently, only benefits Hamas”. The conditions defined by the Quartet should in the long term be fulfilled by the Palestinian government but “in parallel to this process” the EU should take swift action to prevent daily living conditions for Palestinians, which are already “disastrous”, deteriorating further. The PES president affirmed that the gradual extension of the temporary interim measure (TIM) for getting aid to Palestinians, as envisaged by the European Commission, in certain conditions (EUROPE 9404), is therefore going in the right direction. In the second half of this year, a PES delegation, will go to Palestine to continue discussions with Fatah. (hb)