The French Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Benjamin Haddad, has asked the European Commission to clarify whether there has been a diversion of European funds intended for non-governmental organizations and ultimately whether this money ended up in the hands of the Palestinian Islamist movement "Hamas", Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
"I recently received signals of suspicions regarding the mechanism established by "Hamas" back in 2020 for inspections of organizations, be they governmental or non-governmental, operating in the Palestinian territories," wrote Haddad in a letter addressed to the EU's number one diplomat Kaia Kallas and European Commissioners Dubravka Šuica, Michael McGrath and Magnus Brunner.
Recalling that the EU provides funding to some of these humanitarian organizations, such as the Norwegian Refugee Council or the International Medical Group, Hadad notes that there is information that raises great concern about European funding and about the protection of European taxpayers, who must be able to ensure that their contributions serve exclusively humanitarian purposes.
Last May, the French minister asked Brussels to tighten control over European funding so that it does not end up in the hands of individuals and structures linked to anti-Semitism or Islamism.
Together with Austria and the Netherlands, France has put forward proposals at European level aimed at guaranteeing the principle of respect for European values by those who receive European funding, recalls Benjamin Hadad in his letter addressed to European representatives. He stresses that, according to France, it cannot be tolerated that European funding is provided to organizations operating for humanitarian purposes. targets, including structures that have been subjected to interference by the networks woven by “Hamas“. These international organizations should not find themselves in a situation where they are forced to accept the support of a structure considered terrorist at European level in order to be able to provide humanitarian services and care through this support, Adad added.
France also calls for increased transparency and the implementation of operational tools that will better control the flow of funds. France also recommends that there be a mechanism for suspending payments that is stricter and that the EU as a whole be even more vigilant.