Spanish Prime Minister to Recognize Palestine as a State by July This Year

Major foreign media reported on the 2nd (local time) that Spain announced it will recognize Palestine as a state by July.

According to local media such as EFE News Agency, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is on a Middle East tour, unofficially told the accompanying press corps this at Amman, the capital of Jordan, the day before. Prime Minister Sanchez is scheduled to visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia starting from Jordan on the same day.

Sanchez also told the press that there will be sufficient pressure within the European Union (EU) to have several member states take the same stance. He emphasized the ongoing discussions at the United Nations, saying that "important things" could happen ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Prime Minister Sanchez's remarks came after Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, announced that he would request a vote on Palestine's UN membership status at the UN Security Council.

Earlier, on the 22nd of last month, after the European Council meeting, Sanchez told reporters that Spain, Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia had agreed to take the "first step" toward recognizing Palestine as a state. He added that Spain is expected to recognize Palestine as a state within the four-year term of its parliament. The current Spanish parliamentary term began last year.

Israel strongly opposed this. They stated that the agreement among the four countries is a plan to reward terrorism.

According to the Israeli daily Times of Israel, Malta is the Security Council president this month. However, Vanessa Fraser, Malta's Permanent Representative to the UN, said that no official request has yet been received from the PA.

Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognized Palestine as a state.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.