Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Europe: MEPs express outrage over terror-linked groups being eligible for funding of NGOs


Via EJP:
Several Members of the European Parliament have expressed outrage over terror-linked groups being eligible for EU funding of NGOs. Last week, the Israeli foreign ministry summoned the EU envoy to Israel, Emanuele Giaufret to demand a "clarification" over the matter and demanded a complete overhaul of funding rules ensuring taxpayer money is spent in line with European laws and values. "We are alarmed that a senior EU diplomat stated that Palestinian NGOs that are affiliated with EU-designated terrorist groups will remain eligible to receive EU funding," wrote MEPs Lukas Mandl (Austria), Anna Michelle Asimakopouloun (Greece), Petras Auštrevičius (Lithuania), Carmen Avram , Dietmar Köster (Germany) and Alexandr Vondra (Czech Republic) in an open letter to Eu foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. 
The issue came out after the head of the European Union Office to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, wrote in a letter on 30 April 2020 to an umbrella organization of Palestinian NGOs that "it is understood that a natural person affiliated to, sympathizing with, or supporting any of the groups or entities mentioned in the EU restrictive list is not excluded from benefitting from EU-funded activities unless his/her exact name and surname (confirming his/her identity) corresponds to any of the natural persons on the EU restrictive lists."
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