Pedro Sanchez expects Spain to recognize the Palestinian state next July (French)
On Tuesday, a number of Spanish media outlets quoted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as telling reporters accompanying him during a tour in the Middle East that his country would recognize the Palestinian state by next July.
The Spanish News Agency and the newspapers El Pais and La Panguardia quoted Sanchez as informal comments he made to journalists accompanying him on his trip late yesterday, Monday, in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on the first day of a tour that includes Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
According to reports, Sanchez said he expected events in the conflict to unfold before the European Parliament elections in early June, and highlighted ongoing discussions at the United Nations.
He added that he expected Spain to recognize the Palestinian state by next July, and said that he believed that there would soon be a "moving bloc" within the European Union to push many member states to adopt the same position, according to what the Spanish news agency reported.
At a European Council meeting on March 22, Sanchez said that he agreed with the leaders of Ireland, Malta and Slovenia to “take the first steps” towards recognizing the state declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.
He said at the time that he expected recognition to take place during the current four-year legislative session that began last year. In response, Israel informed the four countries that its plans amounted to a “reward for terrorism” and would reduce the chances of a negotiated solution to the conflict in Gaza. , she said.
The Arab countries and the European Union agreed during a meeting in Spain last November that the two-state solution is the only solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Since 1988, 139 of the 193 countries in the United Nations have recognized Palestinian statehood.
Source: Anadolu Agency