France donates 10 million euros to PA

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the consul general of France in Jerusalem signed a financial agreement on Sunday in Ramallah, a statement said.

The agreement will see France donate 10 million euros to the PA and was first announced on Sept. 23 at a meeting of donors to the PA, the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee, in New York.

"In this challenging times for the Palestinian Authority, this budgetary assistance is a new proof of the French support to the Palestinian institutions as well as to the action undertaken by Prime Minister Fayyad under the authority of President Abbas," Frédéric Desagneaux said.

"As it has been recently said in New York, France shares the analysis of the international financial institutions and the United Nations according to which the Palestinian Authority remains, despite its current financial difficulties, ready to establish a functioning State," he added.

The meeting of 27 donor nations, global financial institutions, and the Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators was also attended by Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and the head of the IDF's defense department in charge of West Bank civil affairs. Ma'anNews