Sánchez will embark on a European tour to push for Palestinian recognition

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will embark on a trip to rally European allies behind Madrid’s initiative to recognise the Palestinian state, with visits to Norway, Ireland, Belgium, and Slovenia, and a meeting in Madrid with Portugal’s new prime minister, Spanish government sources confirmed on Tuesday.

According to government spokesperson Pilar Alegría, Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) wants to convey to several European leaders his“concern for the situation in Gaza and the need to recognise Palestine as a state, Euractiv’s partner EFE reported.

“Our objective is clear. It’s to push for the recognition of Palestine as a state,” said Alegría.

“We want to contribute to the earliest possible start of a peace process for the materialisation of the two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli)”.

Sánchez pushed the idea within the European Council and recently signed a letter with leaders of several EU countries calling for the bloc’s recognition of Palestine.

On his recent tour of the Middle East, where he met “key players from the Arab world” in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, the Spanish prime minister suggested that Madrid could unilaterally recognise Palestine as a state before the summer. He also expressed confidence that other European partners would follow Spain’s lead.

Besides, Spain, Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia announced on 22 March that they were ready to recognise the state of Palestine as the “only way to achieve peace and security” in the war-torn region.

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden are the nine EU member states currently recognising the Palestinian state.

After his trip to Norway and Ireland, Sánchez will receive the new Prime Minister of Portugal, Luís Montenegro, in Madrid on Monday and will then visit Slovenia and Belgium on Tuesday to meet with the heads of government of the respective countries.

Since the Hamas attack on 7 October that claimed around 1,200 lives, Israel’s military response on the Gaza strip has killed at least 33,360 Palestinians and injured 75,993, according to figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es, Margarida Pinto | Lusa.pt)

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