Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez on Wednesday He said That by July the Spanish government will recognize the State of Palestine. In a meeting with journalists in Brussels, Albars said that “we need a real Palestinian state” and that “the Palestinian people should not be condemned to remain refugees forever.” Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez He already promised That the country recognize Palestine as a state “within this legislative body,” and then shorten the period to next summer.

Recognition of a state means the establishment of formal diplomatic relations that generally includes the exchange of ambassadors or other diplomatic personnel; In the case of Palestine, international recognition has a high symbolic and political value. Spain had agreed resolution For the recognition of the State of Palestine in 2014, ten years ago: But later, the center-right governments led by Mariano Rajoy and the Sánchez governments argued that formal recognition of Palestine should only take place formally with all other countries in the European Union. European Union.

The current Sanchez government, in particular, was one of the main critics of the military operations launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip after the violent attacks carried out by the Palestinian Hamas movement last October 7 on Israeli territory. According to Albaris now, “recognition of the State of Palestine is the best guarantee of Israel’s security.”

Palestine is currently recognized by nearly two-thirds of UN member states, i.e. most countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. In the past, the European Parliament also approved a resolution in which it said that it supports in principle the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, but currently only nine of the 27 EU member states recognize it: Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta. Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and Hungary. Among these countries, Sweden was the first and only country to recognize Palestine when it was already a member state of the Union, in 2014, while the other countries recognized it before joining the Union.

In March, the heads of government of Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia made this declaration In a joint statement And to be prepared to recognize the State of Palestine “at the appropriate time” “for the sake of peace and security” in the region. In Italy, after some discussions in Parliament in 2015, the Scherarsi Association began at the end of January A set of signatures To propose a popular initiative law on this subject.