Three European states to recognise Palestine today

Norway, Ireland and Spain will formally recognise a Palestinian state Tuesday (today).

Earlier in the month, the leaders of the aforementioned countries had announced that they have been decided to recognize Palestine as a state for the sake of peace in the Middle East.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store had said that a two-state solution is in Israel’s best interest as without recognizing Palestine there can be no peace in the Middle East. Store said the Scandinavian country will recognise Palestinian as a state on May 28.

In recent weeks, several European Union countries have hinted at their plans to recognise Palestine as a state. They argued a two-state solution is a must for durable peace in the region.

Norway is not a European Union member. The country has been a supporter of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

Israel immediately recalled its ambassadors from Ireland and Norway after European countries announced their recognition of the Palestinian state.

Tuesday’s move by Spain, Ireland and Norway will mean 145 of the UN’s 193 member states now recognise Palestinian statehood.

These include many Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries, but not the United States, Canada, most of western Europe, Australia, Japan or South Korea.

In 2014, Sweden became the first EU member to recognise a Palestinian state, following six other European countries that took the step before joining the bloc: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.