Coalition of European countries consider recognizing Palestinian State on May 21

According to Spanish government sources, May 21 is the date that is being considered by Spain and other European Union countries to recognize the Palestinian State. On that day the last meeting of ministers will be held before the campaign for the elections to the European Parliament begins on June 9, and the sources consulted advocate taking a decision of this importance out of the electoral debate.

The Spanish government is coordinating with other European countries willing to take the step to try to achieve a simultaneous recognition. Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris revealed last Monday that he had spoken with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez. “Formal recognition is an important part of acknowledging that a two-state solution is the only way to bring about peace and stability in the region, with a State of Palestine and the State of Israel living side-by-side in peace,” the taoiseach said. “Prime Minister Sánchez and I are both eager to make progress on this very shortly and we agreed to remain in close contact,” he added. Sánchez also noted that the conversation with Harris had sped things up. “This morning I had a conversation with the prime minister of Ireland about the willingness of both governments to recognize the Palestinian state and to coordinate our efforts to bring it to fruition. The two-state solution is the only way to achieve a future of peace, security, and stability in the region,” said the Spanish prime minister. Coordination with Ireland to announce the recognition on the same day, in two separate Cabinet meetings, is advanced, but the talks also include the heads of government of Malta and Slovenia, who last March 22 on the margins of the European Council also committed themselves to the recognition of the Palestinian state.

Sánchez has the backing of the leftist coalition Sumar whose leader, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz, has called for recognition to come sooner than the anticipated May 21 announcement. However, the conservative opposition has its doubts. Sánchez does not need to call a vote in Congress as it is an exclusive decision of government, but he has committed himself to consulting the groups and taking the debate to parliament. The main opposition Popular Party has already pointed out that, although it supports the two-state solution and the recognition of Palestine — something it previously approved in 2014 in a bill agreed with the Socialists — it believes that this is not the right time to do so.

In recent weeks, several Caribbean countries (Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Jamaica, and Barbados) have recognized the Palestinian State. To date, 142 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have taken this step. On April 19, the United States vetoed Palestine’s accession as a full member of the UN, even though it had the support of 12 of the 15 countries sitting on the Security Council.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Thursday that recognition of the Palestinian state will take place “very soon,” but declined to confirm the date. “We are talking with several of our European colleagues to analyze the best time to make that recognition,” he said at the entrance of an event commemorating Europe Day, together with the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, a staunch advocate of the two-state solution.

Albares was scheduled to travel to Washington on Thursday, where he will explain Spain’s decision to his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken. The United States, Israel’s main ally, has spoken out against unilateral recognition of Palestine, but has not been belligerent on the issue. On April 12, a State Department spokesman assured that the U.S. supports the two-state formula but believes that the best way to achieve it is “through dialogue and negotiation between the parties and with other countries in the region.” However, he added: “Each country must make its own decisions regarding when and where it makes recognitions of this type.”

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