‘Spain is ready to recognize the Palestinian state’: Prime Minister Sanchez

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday that Spain is “ready to recognize the Palestinian state.”

His government has said that the official recognition will happen before July, and Sanchez is about to embark on a European tour to try to convince his peers to do the same.

“The international community can’t help the Palestinian state if it doesn’t recognize its existence,” said Sanchez during a parliamentary debate.

The Socialist premier added that recognizing Palestine is “what’s just, what’s demanded by the social majority” and is “in Europe’s geopolitical interest.”

And while the minority government’s proposal to recognize Palestine is likely to win majority support in the parliament, the country’s main opposition party will likely not back the proposal.

While Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said on Wednesday that he backs the two-state solution, he disagreed with Sanchez’s approach.

Echoing the views of other European conservative leaders, Feijoo said the recognition should be the “result of a negotiated process” and should also come unanimously with a “critical mass of more influential countries.”

At the moment, Spain has joined with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia stating their willingness to recognize Palestine.

On Friday, Sanchez will begin a round of contacts with the leaders of Norway, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Belgium to discuss the plan and attempt to persuade more countries to join him.

Last week, he also traveled to the Middle East, meeting with the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to discuss ways to achieve sustainable peace in Palestine and Israel.