Brussels, 11/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Palestinian Authority has just launched a far-reaching campaign of diplomacy aimed at gathering the most support possible worldwide for its plan to call for a vote, next September, at the UN General Assembly on the official recognition of the Palestinian state. The EU, on the other hand, remains attached to seeking a negotiated solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “We believe that a negotiated solution is the only one that has a long-term prospect of bringing peace, security and stability to the region. Our focus is clearly on working for such a negotiated solution”, a source close to Catherine Ashton explained on Tuesday. In December, EU foreign ministers had already underlined the need to take negotiation forward towards a “two-state solution”, as the only possible outcome, while underlining in conclusions adopted on 13 December that the recognition of a Palestinian state will be envisaged “when appropriate” (see EUROPE 10276). On Sunday 9 January, the Palestinian foreign minister, Riad Malki, had told the press in Ramallah that rapid international recognition of the Palestinian state would put “political and legal pressure” on Israel to withdraw its forces from the territories of another recognised state within the 1967 borders recognised by the international community. Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Cub, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Chile have already recognised the Palestinian state. Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru could follow suit in coming weeks. Malki indicated that the Palestinian Authority was endeavouring to obtain recognition from Mexico and other countries of central and southern America. It then plans to approach the countries of Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This wave of Latin-American recognitions has alarmed Israel and brought about disapproval from Washington, which finds that “any unilateral action is counter-productive”, according to the US State Department. In the EU, the member states will have to individually or as sovereign nations decide whether they wish to recognise the Palestinian state or not. According to Riad Malki, Spain promised to recognise Palestine in September. (H.B./transl.jl)