LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia's government on Thursday approved a motion to recognize a Palestinian state and called on parliament to do the same.
Premier Robert Golob said the government had submitted the approval proposal to parliament, which could convene as early as next week.
“The whole world should work towards peace,” Golob said after the government meeting. “The way to achieve peace is a two-state solution.”
“This decision is not directed against anyone, including Israel, but is a message of peace,” he added, as the Palestinian flag was raised at government headquarters in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he hoped the Slovenian parliament would reject the government's decision.
“The Slovenian government's decision to recommend to the Slovenian parliament that it recognize a Palestinian state rewards Hamas, which commits murder, rape, mutilation of corpses and decapitation of infants, strengthens Iran's axis of evil and undermines the close and friendly relations between Slovenians and Israelis,” he said.
The measure needs parliamentary approval to take effect, and Golob's ruling Liberal Coalition has a comfortable majority in the 90-seat parliament, making the vote a mere formality.
The Slovenian government's decision Spain, Norway, Ireland It recognised a Palestinian state, but Israel condemned the move.
The move would make Slovenia the 10th member state of the 27-nation European Union to formally recognize the Palestinian state. Norway is not an EU member state, but its foreign policy is broadly aligned with the EU.
Slovenia began the recognition process in early May but said it would wait until the situation in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip improved.
Golob said this week. Latest Israeli attack on RafahThis forced more than one million Palestinians to flee.
More than 140 countries recognise the state of Palestine, more than two-thirds of the UN member states.
The movement to recognise the state of Palestine EU and Israel take a nosediveSpain and Ireland have called on the EU to take action against Israel's continuing attacks on Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel launched its offensive in response to a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 in which militants crossed the Gaza border into Israel, leaving 1,200 people dead and taking about 250 hostages. Israeli air and ground strikes then According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 36,000 are Palestinians.It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
