BRUSSELS
Sweden’s newly elected center-left government has officially recognized Palestine as a state on Thursday, making it the first EU member to do so.
"Today the government takes the decision to recognize the state of Palestine," Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement published in the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter.
By recognizing Palestine as a state, Wallstrom said Sweden wanted to first give its support to “the moderates among the Palestinians.” She referred to those “who will govern the complex Palestinian policy and those who soon will again have to sit down at the negotiating table,” in the statement released Thursday.
On October 3, Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven had announced that his country would recognizePalestine as a state.
"The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law," Lofven said. "A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful coexistence. Sweden will therefore recognize the state of Palestine."
The decision comes after the Social Democrats won the Swedish parliamentary elections, in alliance with the Greens and the Left Party on September 14.
Countries such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia also recognize Palestine as a state; however they had done so before joining the European Union.
Although the U.N. General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012, the European Union has not followed suit.
Abbas hails Sweden's official recognition of Palestine
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday hailed Sweden's recognition of the State of Palestine.
"President Abbas welcomes and hails the political and legal recognition of the State of Palestine by the Kingdom of Sweden," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that the move reflected Stockholm's keenness to render the Palestinian-Israeli peace process – based on a two-state solution – a success.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, for his part, called on the United States and European countries to follow Sweden's example.
Earlier Thursday, Sweden – in line with statement made one month earlier – officially recognized the State of Palestine, becoming the first E.U. member to do so.
"Today the government takes the decision to recognize the State of Palestine," Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said in a statement.
Sweden to give up to $200 million to Palestine
Sweden is set to give Palestine up to 1.5 billion kronor ($200 million) in aid, Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has announced, hours after it became the first European Union country to officially recognize Palestine as a state.
Wallstrom said in a statement on Thursday that Palestine fulfilled the criteria for recognition as a state in international law despite it not having fixed borders, and would receive between 500 million kronor ($68 million) and 1.5 billion kronor under a five-year assistance plan.
Wallstrom said: ''There is a territory, there is also a population. There is also a government with the opportunity to exhibit internal and external control."
Sweden has previously recognized states - Croatia in 1992 and Kosovo in 2008 - even though they lacked effective control over parts of its territory, Wallstrom said, underlying that Palestine was a similar case.
'A peaceful world possible'
Wallstrom said the move showed Sweden wanted to give its support to "the moderates among the Palestinians ... who will govern complex Palestinian policy and those who will soon again have to sit down at the negotiating table".
Referring to a warning on October 4 from the U.S. which cautioned Sweden that recognizing Palestine was "premature" and "can only come through a negotiated outcome", Wallstrom said: "It’s not too early; the risk is that it’s too late."
She added: ''I would like to say that a six-year-old girl or a boy in Gaza has experienced three wars in their lifetime."
Sweden supports a two-state solution and wants to give young people hope that "another peaceful world is possible", Wallstrom said.
'Detrimental step'
The decision comes after the Social Democrats won the Swedish parliamentary elections in alliance with the Greens and the Left Party on September 14.
Countries such as Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have also recognized Palestine as a state; but did so before they joined the EU.
The move also comes weeks after the bloc condemned Israeli plans to build 2,610 settlements in Givat Hamatos, located in southeast Jerusalem.
The European Union External Action said in a statement released on October 2: ''This represents a further highly detrimental step that undermines prospects for a two-state solution and calls into question Israel’s commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement with the Palestinians."
The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous "Balfour Declaration," called for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians, for their part, continue to demand the establishment of an independent state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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