Sweden and Denmark have decided to temporarily suspend the provision of assistance to the Palestinian territories in response to the recent assault by Hamas on Israeli communities originating from the Gaza Strip.
During a press conference held in Stockholm, Johan Forssell, the Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade of Sweden, expressed the government’s stance on the allocation of Swedish taxpayers’ funds.
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He emphasized the importance of ensuring that recipients of these funds possess a well-defined perspective on fundamental matters and actively distance themselves from any involvement with terrorism.
Approximately 57 million Swedish kronor (equivalent to $5 million) allocated for the current fiscal year will not be distributed.
Nevertheless, the provision of humanitarian assistance in the context of catastrophe scenarios will remain unaffected.
According to the Danish Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen, Denmark has made the decision to discontinue its developmental assistance to the Palestinians.
The ministry sent a statement outlining its intention to undertake a thorough examination aimed at preventing any potential abuse of Danish funds that may inadvertently contribute to the financing of terrorist groups engaged in attacks against Israel.
The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Climate Policy, Dan Jørgensen, expressed in an official statement the need to temporarily halt the distribution of funding in order to verify that it reaches the intended recipients and projects, in light of the significant aggression and acts of terrorism carried out by Hamas against Israel. Hence, the implementation of this payment suspension is deemed essential.
The evaluation process will include many forms of assistance, including backing for civic groups and infrastructural initiatives.