Eduardo González
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, confirmed today the support of the new Prime Minister of Ireland, Simon Harris, for the Palestinian State, in the same line as his predecessor, Leo Varadkar, who on March 22 signed a joint declaration with his counterparts. of Spain, Malta and Slovenia in which they committed to recognizing Palestine when “the appropriate circumstances arise.”
This was announced by Sánchez and Harris during a joint press conference in Dublin, in the second stage of the mini-tour that the President of the Government carried out yesterday to obtain the support of other European leaders for the recognition of the Palestinian State.
In the morning, Pedro Sánchez obtained the support of the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, with whom he agreed on a joint declaration in which both expressed their support for the recognition of Palestine as a full member state of the UN, to the extent that “can make a genuine and positive contribution to a political process towards peace between Israel and Palestine.”
During the joint press conference in Dublin, Pedro Sánchez assured that both he and Harris agree that “the recognition of Palestine is a necessary step to discuss and implement the two-state solution.”
Likewise, he recalled the “joint letter” sent by Spain and Ireland to the EU “on Israel’s obligations in terms of respect for human rights” and the declaration signed on March 22 by himself, by Harris’ predecessor, Leo Varadkar, and by the prime ministers of Malta, Robert Abela, and of Slovenia, Robert Golob, in which they committed to recognizing the State of Palestine when “the right circumstances arise.”
“We must fight for a political solution that brings peace and security to the region, and recognize and sponsor the coexistence and existence of two States, the Palestinian and the Israeli,” warned Pedro Sánchez. “The international community will not be able to help Palestine if it does not officially recognize it” and, therefore, “we are committed to supporting the recognition of Palestine as a full member state of the United Nations,” he added.
In response to questions from the press, Pedro Sánchez assured that “the recognition of the Palestinian State is getting closer and closer.” “The will that I express as President of the Government of Spain is that we can make this decision in a coordinated manner, in accordance with the competence that all Member States have,” he said. Sánchez has set the goal of recognizing Palestine before July, but he prefers to have the support of other European countries before taking the step.
For his part, Simon Harris assured that the conditions for Ireland to recognize the Palestinian State are are “coming much closer” and that Ireland and Spain could recognize Palestine “together.” According to the Irish Prime Minister, the recognition of Palestine should not be interpreted as a reward for Hamas, but would contribute to creating a “political peace process” that would lead to a two-state solution.
Last Tuesday, the Irish Foreign Minister, Micheál Martin, declared that formal recognition of Palestine by Ireland “will occur” and announced his intention to present a formal proposal to the Government in this regard.
Rest of contacts
After the conclusion of this tour, Pedro Sánchez will continue his political contacts with other European leaders to obtain the greatest number of supports for the recognition of the Palestinian State, which has become one of his great priorities in foreign policy.
This coming Monday, the President of the Government will receive the new Portuguese Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, at Moncloa, in their first bilateral meeting since the latter took office, which took place last week.
The round of talks will continue next week in Slovenia, where he will meet with its prime minister, Robert Golob, and will later move to Brussels, where he will meet with the prime minister, Alexander de Croo, and will participate in the European Council in April 17 and 18. De Croo (whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU) and Sánchez traveled to Israel, Palestine and Egypt at the end of November, on the Prime Minister’s first tour to the region since the beginning of the escalation in Gaza.
