JERUSALEM, March 3, 2011 (WAFA) - The Government of Greece is contributing €150,000 to help the Palestinian Authority (PA) settle bills due to the private sector in the field of security and rule of law, according to a press release published Thursday.

Through this assistance, Greece is providing critical support to the private sector and to the PA, in line with the European Union's (EU) efforts to help sustain the Palestinian economy and ease ongoing fiscal challenges, it said.

The contribution, channeled through the European mechanism for support to the Palestinians, PEGASE, covers arrears relating to the purchase of furniture and the installation of information networks for the High Judicial Council and the Ministry of Justice.

A number of West Bank businesses that provided supplies for the Civil Police, the Civil Defense, the Ministry of Interior, High Judicial Council and Ministry of Justice will benefit directly from today's contribution.

Speaking about the contribution, the Greek Consul-General Sotirios Athanassiou said: “Greece has been steadily supporting the Palestinian State-building efforts and is constantly contributing to strengthening both the private sector and the Palestinian Authority institutions. In this framework, our €150,000 contribution aims at helping the Palestinian government to continue its crucial work in the Rule of Law sector.”

This represents the third and last disbursement of an overall contribution of €500,000 from the Government of Greece to support the PA settle bills in the field of security and rule of law.

The first contribution of €200,000, disbursed in October 2009, covered arrears for the purchase of Civil Police vehicles and uniforms and the second contribution of €150,000, disbursed in March 2010, also covered arrears relating to the purchase of vehicles for the use of the Palestinian Civil Police.

Most of the EU assistance to the Palestinian Authority is channeled through PEGASE, the financial mechanism launched in 2008 to support the three-year Reform and Development Plan.

As well as helping to meet a substantial proportion of its running costs, European funds support major reform and development programs in key ministries, to help prepare the PA for statehood in line with the plan put forward by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in August 2009 and the Palestinian National Plan 2011-13.

Since 2008, 1.03 billion euros have been disbursed through the PEGASE Direct Financial Support programs. In addition, EU provides assistance to the Palestinian people through other cooperation projects and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

M.A.