In a joint declaration, the leaders of Ireland, Malta, Spain and Slovenia announced that they had discussed their willingness to recognise Palestine.
“We said we would do it when it can make a positive contribution and when the circumstances are right” they said.
According to these prime ministers, the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the region is through the implementation of a two-state solution: the Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side in peace and security.
At the end of the European Council, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that it was “important that there are countries and governments from different geographical areas and different political families”. “We want to do it together, united. It has to be a decisive step towards peace, and we have to gauge when the time is right to do it”, he explained.
Questioned on the subject, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that this had not been discussed at the summit and that the decision to recognise a state was a national competence.
Malta has already recognised the concept of a Palestinian State and eight Member States – Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Sweden – recognise the State of Palestine.
See the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/bhg (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion)