Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez renewed his call for the European Union to recognize the State of Palestine during a session of the Spanish Congress of Deputies on Wednesday, according to Spanish newspaper El País.
The newspaper said that Sánchez, who is currently serving as the rotating president of the European Union, told the congress that “Europe must demand compliance with international law, which means recognizing the State of Palestine.”
Sánchez went a step further than he did in 2014, when the Spanish Congress voted unanimously in favor of recognizing the State of Palestine. That initiative was successful, but it was a non-binding resolution. In other words, it has no executive force because the resolution is not required to be implemented by the government.
On Wednesday, Sánchez went a step further by including the government in the equation. He did not specify whether the initiative would be processed as a bill (which must be promoted by a parliamentary group such as the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) or through a legislative decree (which comes directly from Moncloa).
It is worth noting that less than a month ago, the prime minister traveled to Israel and Palestine with his Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo, and threatened to recognize the State of Palestine unilaterally.
Sánchez, who announced that Spain could “take its own decisions” if the European Union did not take this step, said: “It is time for the international community and the European Union to finally recognize the State of Palestine.”
He pointed out that more than 130 countries have recognized the State of Palestine, while the United States and some European Union countries have not yet done so.
He added: “It is worth making efforts to take initiatives within the European Union to recognize Palestine, and if that does not happen, Spain’s commitment to recognizing Palestine continues.”
