Lithuania is not taking any decisions for now on funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA amid an investigation into Israel’s accusations that some of its staff were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has said.
His comment came after several donor countries halted funding for UNRWA following the allegations.
“Lithuania hasn’t made any decisions on the funding because we aren’t yet in the financial period when those decisions are being considered,” he told reporters. “We’re waiting for an investigation first.”
According to Landsbergis, Lithuania coordinates its position on the issue with the other two Baltic countries.
“Our decisions are the same,” he said.
However, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Sunday that Tallinn was suspending its funding to UNRWA
Concerning the recent very serious allegations against @UNRWA, Estonia will not continue with the funding of the organisation.
— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) January 28, 2024
I call for a quick and in-depth investigation of these alligations.
Lithuania typically allocates around 100,000 euros per year to the refugee agency, Landsbergis said.
UNRWA said on Friday it had fired several of its staff members over Israel’s accusations and promised a thorough investigation into the claims, which were not specified.
On Saturday, several donors, including Germany, the UK, Italy, Australia, and Finland followed the lead of the US in halting their funding to the agency in response to the allegations.
Hamas on Saturday condemned Israel’s statements on UNRWA and called on the UN and other international organisations “not to cave into the threats and blackmail”.
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