EU contributes €22.5 mln to Palestinian authority salaries

The European Union has contributed 22.5 million euro to the payment of the March salaries and pensions of around 84,000 Palestinian civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, an EU press release said Wednesday. \"With this new monthly contribution, the EU demonstrates once again its strong commitment to support the Palestinian Authority\'s efforts to maintain regular payments to its employees and pensioners, as well as to ensure the delivery of basic public services to the Palestinian citizens both in the West Bank and Gaza,\" EU representative to the Palestinian Authority (PA) John Gatt-Rutter said. \"In line with the conclusions of last month\'s Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee meeting in Brussels, the EU calls on all donors to provide their financial support to the PA in a timely and reliable manner in these very challenging times for the Palestinian Authority,\" he added, according to Palestinian New and Information Agency (WAFA). The Palestinian Authority was several days late in making the March salary citing a severe financial crisis as the reason for the delay.