Norway 'regrets' outcome as UNSC blocks Palestine's full UN membership resolution

LONDON

Norway said on Thursday that it “regrets” that the UN Security Council disagreement on Palestine’s full membership to the UN.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide wrote on X that his country would have voted in favor of Palestine, following the vote on a resolution on full UN membership of Palestine, which saw the US veto.

“Norway regrets that the Security Council did not agree on admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN,” Eide wrote.

“We would have voted in favour. Norway is a staunch supporter of Palestine’s right to statehood.”

Eide added that the two-state solution is “the only way to durable peace” between Israel and Palestine.

12 countries, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Russia, South Korea, Mozambique, Malta, Japan, Guyana, France, Ecuador, China and Algeria voted in favor of the resolution but 2 countries, the UK and Switzerland abstained on the resolution.

Robert Wood, the US deputy envoy to the UN, said following the veto that his country believes there is no other path to Palestinian statehood than through negotiations.

“We also have long been clear that premature actions here in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people,” Wood said.

Palestine is a non-member state in the UN but has an observer status. An application for full membership necessitates an approval from the UNSC and a two-thirds of vote of all member states in the General Assembly.

The resolution that would open the way for a full membership application for Palestine came as the death toll in Gaza Strip that saw a relentless bombing campaign from Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) since Oct. 7 reaches 34,000.