The HRVP Mogherini and Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Soreide hosted an extraordinary meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) in Brussels on 31 January at Ministerial level. The AHLC, set up in 1994, is the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the occupied Palestinian territory and seeks to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority, and the Israeli government. Mogherini declared that the meeting was the first opportunity for relevant parties to sit together since the December announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on Jerusalem. The AHCL adopted a new assistance package of €42.5 million, including for activities in East Jerusalem and support towards building a democratic and accountable Palestinian state through targeted policy reforms, fiscal consolidation, reinforcing businesses and small and medium sized enterprises, strengthening the Palestinian civil society and providing access to water and energy. HR/VP Federica Mogherini stated, ‘’ the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee has never meant to substitute political progress by economic development. It has always meant to accompany, to facilitate and to underpin political progress. The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee and the two-state solution, for us, are two sides of the same coin.’’