The European Union (EU) opted on Monday to withhold decision on aid to Palestinians pending the revelation of the program of the Hamas-led government.

The Hamas movement presented a list of cabinet ministers to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has yet to react to the list as well as to the program of the new government.

The EU seems to be taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the issue at the moment.

No decision will be taken by the EU until discussions and coordination with other members of the Middle East Quartet -- Russia, the United States and the United Nations, said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations, on Monday.

"We remain committed to working with the Palestinian people. But at the same time there are certain criteria that have to be fulfilled.

"We will take our decisions of course in the light of the commitments the new (Palestinian) government will enter into, and also its deeds," Ferrero-Waldner told a press conference.

EU foreign ministers met Monday in Brussels to discuss primarily the Middle East and possible sanctions against Belarusian officials in the aftermath of elections which the EU claims are not fair.

The EU, together with its partners in the Quartet, has made continued aid to Palestine conditional on Hamas' recognition of Israel, its recognition of existing agreements and the renouncing of violence.

Ferrero-Waldner said the EU will not only look at what Hamas says, but also what it does.

"Indeed, the ball is still in the camp of the Palestinians. The (Palestinian cabinet) team announced over the weekend has to know that their decisions will have a bearing on our feeling and of course on our decisions," she said.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, warned that Hamas is at a crossroads.

"Hamas stands at a crossroads of deciding to become a constructive force and meeting the justified expectations of the Palestinian people, or choosing a different way," she told the same press conference.

She emphasized that there is still no official confirmation of the exact contents of the Hamas presentation and the exact response from Abbas.

"The situation from our point of view is in development, is in flux," she said.

The EU is the single largest donor to Palestinians. Aid given by the executive European Commission and EU member states combined stood at about 500 million euros (600 million U.S. dollars) per year in recent years.

The surprising victory of Hamas in Palestinian legislative elections in January has put the EU in an awkward position. The 25- nation bloc faces a dilemma of providing aid to the Palestinian people and avoiding funds through the hands of Hamas, which is labeled as a terrorist organization by the EU.

EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana told the same press conference that there are still no direct contacts between the EU and Hamas.

Source: Xinhua