Egypt welcomes the decision of Norway, Spain and Ireland to recognize Palestine and calls on other countries to take steps in this direction, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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“The Arab Republic of Egypt welcomes the decision of Norway, Ireland and Spain to officially recognize the State of Palestine,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
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Norway will recognize Palestine as a state, the Norwegian government said on Wednesday. Official recognition will take effect on May 28. On the same day, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced that the country would recognize Palestine as a state. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, in turn, said that the country’s government will officially recognize the Palestinian state next Tuesday, May 28.
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The Egyptian Ministry stressed that this is a step in support of international efforts aimed at creating a political horizon that will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
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“The Arab Republic of Egypt calls on states that have not yet taken this step to move forward towards recognition of the State of Palestine,” the statement said.
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Until now, Palestine was recognized by nine EU member states. Eight countries – Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – took this step in 1988, before joining the EU, and Sweden in 2014.
