fbpx

News

France says EU recognition of a Palestinian state could be a possibility

[ssba]

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said yesterday that the recognition of a Palestinian state by the European Union could be a “possibility”, however France would not recognise a Palestinian state on its own. “There’s no point recognising the Palestinian state on our own. It must be done together,” Juppe said according to an AFP report. He added that he did not think the situation had deteriorated that far yet, but that the possibility should be kept in mind.

The stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has resulted in several European countries upgrading their diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority. Denmark is the latest EU country to upgrade the PA from a general delegation to a mission in their country. Whilst Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was on a visit to London on the 7 March, the Foreign Secretary William Hague also upgraded the status of Palestinian representation to ‘Mission’. Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal have all also upgraded the status of Palestinian representation.

In related news, On Tuesday Uruguay joined ten other Latin American countries that have officially recognised an independent Palestinian State.

Further reading – BICOM Analysis: Time for a peace process reality check?