Norway’s Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide has stated that his country recognises the state of Palestine “because it’s the right thing to do, but even more importantly because it’s the right time to do it.”
Ireland, Norway and Spain will formally recognise Palestine on Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels with his Spanish and Irish counterparts, he said, “For many years, we and so many other countries were expecting to recognise at the end of a peace process.
“But then a few years ago, we realised that we actually needed to think outside the box”, he said, adding that recognition needed to come at a time that sent “a strong signal”.
He noted that some people might think it sounds paradoxical to talk about Tuesday’s solution [recognition of the state of Palestine] in the midst of war.
He mentioned that there is extreme violence in Gaza, Israelis living in fear of terrorism and rocket attacks and settler violence and the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
“We are now seeing a cycle of violence. This is a low point in the long and sad history of a non-solution to the Israel-Palestine problem.
“I think what we’re giving now is new software. It’s a 2.0 to that vision where earlier recognition of Palestine is one of the several pieces of the big puzzle of how to bring peace to the Middle East.”
Espen Barth Eide
Also at the joint press conference in Brussels, Irish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Micheal Martin said that all three countries were “focused on how recognition can contribute to concrete and irreversible steps to vindicate the right to Palestinian self-determination, and to implement a two-state solution.”
It came ahead of a meeting between EU foreign ministers and Middle East Arab leaders.
“We had an excellent meeting last night, with over 40 European, Arab and other partners, discussing exactly this point,” Martin added.
“We focused on building cross-regional cooperation, including on the principles underlying the Arab Peace Vision. We agreed on the need for an early end to the brutal war in Gaza, and clear steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said.
Martin revealed that they will be discussing reforms of the Palestinian Authority as part of a potential political plan.
“I’m now going into the EU foreign affairs council, where the Arab contact group will present their thinking in more detail. My view is that the EU needs to get fully behind a cross-regional plan. The EU needs urgently to support the Palestinian Authority’s own reform plan, which I discussed with Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Mustafa last night. I believe this provides a pathway for effective governance by the PA, throughout Palestinian territory.”
Micheal Martin
Israel Orders Spain To Stop Consular Services For Palestinians
Prior to the news conference, Israel’s foreign ministry announced that it had told the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem to stop offering consular services to Palestinians from June 1, 2024, over Madrid’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
The ministry said that Spain’s consulate in Jerusalem is “authorised to provide consular services to residents of the consular district of Jerusalem only, and is not authorised to provide services or perform consular activity vis-a-vis residents of the Palestinian Authority.”
In a separate statement, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, said, “today, I implemented preliminary punitive measures against the Spanish consulate in Jerusalem following the Spanish government’s recognition of a Palestinian state.”
He added, “We will not put up with harming Israel’s sovereignty and security.”
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