Spain, Ireland and Norway have also joined the list of eight EU member states (Norway is not an EU member) that officially recognize the existence of the State of Palestine – as reported by, among others, Amnesty International. Reuters.
Spain and Ireland have been the biggest supporters of the Palestinian people within the EU, and Madrid and Dublin have long wanted to ensure that the EU would join the EU. By law Accepting the existence of a Palestinian state – Meanwhile, at the last EU summit, he was instead able to write in the final document that the EU and its member states continue to support the two-state system.
The three countries have formally accepted Palestine because, in their view, long-term peace can be achieved in the Middle East.
According to Spain's Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, long-term peace can only be envisioned in a two-state system, meaning that certain areas are jointly governed by Israel and the State of Palestine, and as sovereign, the borders are inviolable – and Madrid recognizes the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Gaza, in addition to the West Bank, which is governed by the Palestinian National Authority, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Spanish Prime Minister added,
Spain does not recognize the original 1967 border amendment, unless both parties agree to this.
As mentioned earlier in this article, according to international law, Israel occupies several areas in East Jerusalem that should be part of the Palestinian state.
With the accession of the current three countries, 146 out of 193 member states of the United Nations officially recognize the State of Palestine, which was welcomed by the Palestinian National Authority, while Israel opposed it.
The Irish Taoiseach – that is the title of the Irish Prime Minister – Simon Harris explained the decision by saying,
We wanted to recognize Palestine at the end of the peace process, but together with Spain and Norway we have now made the decision to keep the peace miracle alive.
Israel had previously opposed this move. After the decision, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz commented on the case on his page “.
The European Union remains divided on this issue
As we noted at the beginning of the article, only eight EU member states – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Sweden and Slovakia – have officially recognized the state – Hungary since 1988 – and have joined it until now. Ireland and Spain at the same time.
In the future, Slovenia and Malta may officially recognize the country,
With both countries having already announced they are considering it – according to press reports, Slovenia could do so on Thursday, while Malta has previously stated they are considering it.
However, many countries, including France and Germany, currently oppose formal recognition – while Paris says it is not time yet, Germany, which joins one of Israel's most important allies, the United States, believes that instead of unilateral solutions, That the conflict be resolved. Two states can only be achieved through the bilateral dialogue system. In addition to the European Union member states, even the previously mentioned United States, Australia and the United Kingdom do not recognize the State of Palestine.
On the other hand, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, which brings together the heads of state and government of member states, welcomed the decision of Madrid and Dublin. the euronews According to his report, the head of the ET stated on Monday that he supports the two-state solution and recognition of the Palestinian state, but, according to him, it must be a visible and viable state. For this reason, he believes the best solution for the EU is to take a coordinated approach with other third countries in order to create leverage on the issue.
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