The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Slovenian Ambassador Andreja Purkart-Martinez for a conversation and reprimanded him in connection with the decision of the authorities in Ljubljana to recognize a Palestinian state, the press service of the Israeli Foreign Ministry reported.
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“In accordance with the instructions of Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yaakov Blitstein today… June 10, held a conversation… with the Slovenian Ambassador to Israel following Slovenia’s recognition of the Palestinian state. Director General Blitstein reprimanded the Ambassador for her government’s perverse decision to recognition of a Palestinian state, which is contrary to EU policy and the position of most like-minded countries,” the statement said.
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The Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry stressed that the Slovenian government’s recognition of the Palestinian state “does not contribute to peace, but encourages the terrorist organization Hamas and makes it difficult to advance the deal to free the hostages.”
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Earlier in June, the Slovenian parliament adopted a decree recognizing the Palestinian state, which was supported by 52 out of 90 deputies.
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Ireland, Norway and Spain officially recognized the State of Palestine on May 28. Before this, Palestine was recognized by nine EU countries. 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.
