EU’s Borrell says Spain, Ireland plan to recognize Palestinian state on May 21

10 May 2024 16:45

Spain, Ireland and other European Union member countries plan to recognize a Palestinian state on May 21, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, says ahead of an expected UN vote today on a Palestinian bid to become a full member state of the United Nations.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps towards recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.

Asked on local Spanish radio station RNE late last night if May 21 was when Spain, Ireland and other EU countries would recognize a Palestinian state, Borrell says yes, mentioning Slovenia as well.

“This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognizes the will for that state to exist,” he says, adding that Belgium and other countries would probably follow, per the Times of Israel.

Previously, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said the decision on recognition had been made, although he did not give a date.

Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the ongoing war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre.

On Friday afternoon, the United Nations General Assembly is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably.”

Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE said last night that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta had been waiting for the UN vote and were considering a joint recognition on May 21.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There is no immediate comment on the date from the other countries.

Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestinian statehood.

Caliber.Az

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