Norway could recognise Palestinian statehood as soon as this spring and is working on the matter with other countries, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on Thursday.
“Probably in spring,” Eide said in an interview with Norwegian broadcaster TV2, when asked when Oslo could recognise the State of Palestine.
He added that Norway was working on the matter in cooperation with “other countries.” “If people want to arrive at the principle of ‘two states for two peoples,’ this, obviously, requires two states. One is called Palestine and the other is called Israel. It is impossible to reach this principle without their joint negotiations,” Norway’s foreign minister said.
On April 12, after a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said that Oslo was ready to recognise Palestine, not excluding that the two countries could do this simultaneously.
In March, Sanchez said at a press conference after a meeting of the European Council that the Spanish government agreed with the authorities of Ireland, Slovenia and Malta to take the first steps towards recognition of the Palestinian state. These states also issued a joint statement expressing their readiness to recognize the Palestinian states.
Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state in the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.(Sputnik)
