With the announcement that it will unilaterally recognize the Palestinian State on May 28, Pedro Sanchez remains a minority within the European Union. Only Ireland has joined Spain’s initiative practically simultaneously. Norway has also done it, but it is not part of the EU.
Even Slovenia and Maltawhich in March agreed with Madrid and Dublin to go hand in hand in the recognition of the Palestinian State when ““the circumstances are appropriate.”, they got off the hook at the end of the diplomatic step this Wednesday. The two countries are still considering joining, but would do so later.
In the case of Slovenia, the matter will return to the Government’s agenda on June 13, but the final decision must be approved by Parliament, as diplomatic sources have informed EL ESPAÑOL. As for Malta, the possible recognition of Palestine has no date at the moment.
[La UE, promotora de la Corte Penal Internacional, se divide por la acusación contra Netanyahu]
“Malta has recently affirmed its readiness to recognize Palestine, when such recognition can make a positive contribution and when the circumstances are appropriate. In this regard, the Government is closely following developments in the Middle East to determine optimal deadlines for this important event as soon as possible,” government sources explain to this newspaper.
Even Belgium, which has always been very close to Spanish positions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has distanced itself from Sánchez this time. “Recognition can only be done once. And when it is done, a leverage effect must be sought to achieve results. For us the priority is the ceasefire and the release of the hostages,” the prime minister said, Alexander De Croo.
Recognition of the Palestinian State “it is not a taboo for France”but the Foreign Minister, Stephane Séjourné, states that the conditions do not exist “at this time for this decision to have a real impact” when it comes to moving towards a two-state solution. “This is not just a matter of symbolism or political positioning, but a diplomatic tool at the service of the solution of two States that live side by side in peace and security,” he defended in a statement.
In any case, the decision to recognize or not recognize a third country is part of the sovereignty of each Member State, and in no case corresponds to the EU as a whole.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of those that generates the most internal divisions in the Union. The only thing the 27 Member States agree on is support “the two-state solution”, which in theory implies the recognition of Palestine since everyone already recognizes Israel. But most governments maintain that this should occur at the end of a negotiation and as a result of an agreement between the parties.
So far, the only EU member state that has recognized the Palestinian state is Sweden, which did so alone in 2014. fulfilling an electoral promise of the social democrats. Eight other countries also recognized Palestine, but did so before entering the Union.in 1988, when the majority were in the Soviet orbit: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Malta and Cyprus.
Several of them have changed their position and are now closer to Israel than to Palestine, although they never revoked their position. The most obvious cases are those of Hungary and the Czech Republic, main allies of the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu within the EU. The current Swedish Conservative Government has also veered, while the Maltese Labor Government maintains that its recognition was not complete and that is why it wants to complete it now.
“Within the Union there are very big differences of opinion. Some countries believe that Palestine should be recognized because that drives the process. There are many people who believe that this gives a little more political substance to the statement that you want there to be two states. Other countries believe, on the contrary, that recognition does not boost the peace process, but rather makes it more difficult,” explains a senior European official.
“The Israel-Palestine It is a tremendously divisive issue within the Union“he highlights.
This division was revealed in the last vote of the UN General Assembly on May 10, which dealt precisely with the possible accession of Palestine. Two EU countries spoke out against it: Hungary and the Czech Republic.
At the opposite extreme, 14 Member States voted in favour: Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia voted in favour.
A third group of 11 EU countries abstained: Germany, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden.
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