The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, insisted yesterday that he will support Spain’s recognition of Palestine as ” full-fledged State.”
During an electoral event in Victoria, together with the socialist candidate to preside over the Basque Government, Eneko Andueza, the head of the Executive reiterated the position that he has been maintaining in recent weeks with respect to Palestine. According to Sánchez, who last week toured several Arab countries, Spain’s position is “frankly respected, recognized and appreciated.”
The President of the Government took the opportunity to reply again to his predecessor in office José María Aznar, who stated that the Palestinian State “does not exist.” Specifically, he stressed that the “two-state solution is not an invention of Sanchismo but rather United Nations resolutions.”
After adding that “there is no United Nations resolution that deserves to be unfulfilled for decades,” he reiterated that, for this reason, his Government will support the recognition of Palestine as “a full-fledged State.” “And of course,” he said, “we are going to work for peace in the Middle East.”
Both Sánchez and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, have assured that the Government will approve the recognition of Palestine before July. Albares said that it will be “a decision of the Council of Ministers, which is the one who makes the decisions regarding Spain’s foreign policy,” and that. Once that step is taken, the Chief Executive will explain “that decision in Congress.”
In any case, the decision will not be put to a vote in Parliament, nor was the change given by Pedro Sánchez to Spain’s position regarding Western Sahara, abandoning the one that our country had maintained since the arrival of democracy, both by socialist and popular governments.
In the case of Palestine, a non-law proposal from the Congress of Deputies in 2014 was approved by all groups, in favor of the recognition of Palestine as a State, as long as it was “a coordinated action in concert with the international community.” , and specifically with the European Union, taking full account of the legitimate concerns, interest and aspirations of the State of Israel.”
Despite the words of former president Aznar, his party, the PP, committed in the electoral program for the elections of July 23 to “work for the resolution of conflicts, especially the Israeli-Palestinian one, through the solution of two states.”
The President of the Government also recently said that he should be attentive to decisions that will be made soon in Brussels and New York. Specifically, the UN Security Council is scheduled to address on April 18 a request from the Palestinian diplomatic mission requesting full admission to the United Nations.
Sánchez affirmed on the 3rd, from Doha, that Spain will support Palestinians being able to be a full member of the UN. That support could be given in a vote in the United Nations General Assembly, where two-thirds of the votes of the member countries are necessary. In any case, for the recognition of Palestine as a full member a Security Council resolution would also be necessary, which would only be approved if there is no veto from the permanent members, and it is not clear that the United States could at least reach refrain.
