BRUSSELS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) announcedFriday that it had suspended aid payments to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

    "For the time being there are no payments to or through the Palestinian Authority," said Emma Udwin, a spokeswoman for EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, at a pressbriefing.

    The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it expected EU foreign ministers to discuss what to do next at regular talks in Luxembourg next Monday.

    However, some diplomats were cautious about exactly what the ministers were likely to agree to next week.

    "It will be discussed on Monday, but nothing has been decided. We can't prejudge the conclusions of the discussions," said one EUsource. "It's a possibility, not a certainty," one diplomat told AFP.

    The EU, which sends around 500 million euros (600 million US dollars) a year to the Palestinian region, emphasized that it could not provide aid to a Hamas-led government unless the militant group renounced violence, recognized Israel and agreed toabide by previous agreements made by former Palestinian authorities.

    "That has not yet happened. The EU will need to develop some new strategies, some new measures, some new decisions about how toaddress itself to this new situation," the commission spokeswomen said.

    "It is our responsibility to defend the financial interests of the community and that is what we are doing," said Udwin.

    The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU and the biggest donor of Palestinian aid, had approved the payment of 120 million euros (144 million dollars) in February to the caretaker Palestinian government following the Palestinian elections in January.

    Of the 500 million euros (600 million dollars) annually given to the Palestinians, about half comes from the collective EU pot, the rest being paid by individual EU member countries. Enditem