EU Commissioner: Palestinian fiscal stability needs global support

More international support is needed to stabilise the Palestinian fiscal situation, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Suica said on Thursday (20 November).

She added, that the bloc recognised the progress made by the Palestinian Authority on key reforms in "exceptional circumstances."

Suica made the comment at the Palestine Donor Group (PDG) meeting in Brussels.

During a news conference alongside the Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammad Mustafa, she also said those reforms were a pre-requisite for a viable two-state solution and that work "remained to be done."

It was the first meeting that the EU convened of the PDG on Thursday. The group brings together ministers and senior officials from around 60 international and regional partners—including European Union member states, Arab countries, and major donors.

The group was established as part of the EU's €1.6 billion Multiannual Comprehensive Programme for Palestinian recovery and resilience, and aims to coordinate financial support and monitor the implementation of the Palestinian Authority's Reform Agenda, with a focus on fiscal stability, governance, and economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza.

France: 'Peace cannot be capitulation'

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels earlier in the day did not comment in detail about the reported U.S. plan, but indicated they would not accept demands for Kyiv to make punishing concessions.

"Ukrainians want peace - a just peace that respects everyone's sovereignty, a durable peace that can't be called into question by future aggression," said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

"But peace cannot be a capitulation."

U.S. in Kyiv with peace plan

Zelenskyy's office said Driscoll had presented him with the plan only on Thursday, and several sources told Reuters and other media outlets that the plan was the fruit of backchannel conversations between Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, the special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a message on X on Wednesday, Rubio said the U.S. "will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this conflict" and that peace will require concessions from both Kyiv and Moscow.

Zelenskyy, who met Driscoll alone and then met with the full U.S. delegation, agreed to move quickly towards agreement and the signing of a plan, said Colonel Dave Butler, U.S. army chief of public affairs.

The United States, he said, wanted to ensure that this is "a good plan for the Ukrainian people."

The acceleration in U.S. diplomacy comes at an awkward time for Kyiv, with its troops on the back foot on the battlefield and Zelenskyy's government undermined by a corruption scandal. Parliament fired two cabinet ministers on Wednesday.

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