Spain, Ireland and Norway recognize a Palestinian state, strengthening decisions within the EU

The decision to recognize the State of Palestine announced on Wednesday by Spain and Ireland, alongside Norway, reinforces the divisions on this subject within the European Union, which is having great difficulty finding a solution. common position since the start of the war in Gaza.

“It took many months to get the 27 member states” of the EU to demand “a ceasefire in Gaza” and “reiterate their support for a two-state solution”, but “we must be sincere and recognize that this is not enough,” admitted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez before announcing to deputies that his country would recognize the State of Palestine on May 28.

Spain, which has been maneuvering for months to join other European capitals, took this decision jointly with Dublin and another European country but not belonging to the EU, Norway.

Put “in danger” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Mr. Sánchez, the two-state solution constitutes “the only credible path to peace and security for Israel and for Palestine”, said the Prime Minister in Dublin Irish Simon Harris.

Madrid, Dublin and Oslo hope to be joined by other European countries. In March in Brussels, the Slovenian and Maltese leaders signed a joint communiqué with their Spanish and Irish counterparts in which these four countries expressed their desire to recognize such a state.

The Slovenian government has since adopted a decree on May 9 for the recognition of a Palestinian state, intending to send it to Parliament for approval by June 13.

Not a good time for Paris

The question of recognition of the State of Palestine — which is recognized by 142 of the 193 UN member states, according to a Palestinian Authority tally — is divisive within the EU.

Until now, Sweden was the only EU country in 2014 to have recognized such a state, with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus having done so before joining the bloc. .

In February, Paris took a notable diplomatic step by raising the possibility of unilateral recognition in the absence of Israeli desire to achieve a two-state solution through negotiations. It is “not a taboo for France,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the time.

On Wednesday, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs estimated that the conditions were not met for Paris, which voted on May 10 – like Madrid and Dublin – in favor of the accession of a State of Palestine to the UN , follows Spain and Ireland.

“This decision must be useful, that is to say allow a decisive step forward on the political level” and not be “only a symbolic question or an issue of political positioning”, affirmed Stéphane Séjourné in a written statement to AFP.

Germany, which also defends a two-state solution, considers that such recognition must be the result of direct negotiations between the parties to the conflict.

Recall of its ambassadors by Israel

Israel, which considers that this decision will only “feed extremism and instability”, immediately announced the recall “for consultations” of its ambassadors in Spain, Ireland and Norway. For its part, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas welcomed this recognition as “an important step”.

Norway played a key role in the Middle East peace process in the 1990s, secretly hosting the first talks that led to the Oslo Accords and the historic 1993 handshake at the White House between Israeli Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Yasser Arafat.

This process was launched in Madrid by an Israeli-Arab Peace Conference in 1991.

The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures. Israelis.

The military operation launched in retaliation by Israel in the Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of more than 35,000 people, the vast majority civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. .

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