Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said statements on Palestine would be made “when the conditions are appropriate.”
Ireland and Norway are both moving closer to recognizing Palestinian statehood, the leaders of both countries said separately after meetings with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is also supporting the move.
Ireland wants to recognize Palestine soon, but in a coordinated effort with Spain and other European nations, the country’s Prime Minister Simon Harris said after meeting Sanchez in Dublin on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Sanchez traveled to Oslo, where Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said his country was also “ready” to join “like-minded countries” in recognizing Palestine.
Sanchez said Spain wanted to recognize Palestine “as soon as possible” and was using this step to launch a final peace process.
The current efforts come as rising deaths, starvation and infrastructure damage in the besieged Gaza Strip due to Israel’s war have led to growing international criticism.
Concern over Israel’s war on Gaza has also led to a change of position within Europe – with more and more nations considering the possibility of recognizing Palestine.
Last month, Spain and Ireland, long-time advocates of Palestinian rights, joined Malta and Slovenia in announcing they would work together toward recognizing a Palestinian state. They said they were “ready to recognize Palestine,” which would happen if “the circumstances are right.”
On Friday, after meeting with Sanchez, Harris said: “Let me say tonight that our assessment is that that point is getting much closer and we would like to move forward together on that.”
“The people of Palestine have long sought the dignity of their own land and sovereignty – a homeland that, like Ireland and Spain, can take its place among the nations of the world.”
Sanchez said that willing countries would make their declarations “when the conditions are appropriate” and that they would support the new Palestinian state to become “a full member of the United Nations.”
The Spanish leader has repeatedly angered Israel with his outspoken statements since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, while Harris has already received a rebuke from the Israeli government this week.
Israel told the four EU countries that have committed to recognizing the Palestinians that their initiative would amount to a “price for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated solution to the generation-long conflict.
Norway “stands ready”
“Norway is ready to recognize the state of Palestine,” Norwegian Prime Minister Store, whose country is part of the Schengen zone but not the EU, said at a joint press conference with Sanchez on Friday.
“We have not set a fixed timetable,” he added, saying a decision on recognizing Palestine would have to be made in close consultation with “like-minded countries.”
In November, the Norwegian parliament passed a government proposal to prepare the country for recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
Norway also hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in the early 1990s that led to the Oslo Accords.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 33,600 Palestinians and injured more than 76,000 others since October 7. A Hamas attack on southern Israel before the war killed around 1,100 people there.
In total, 139 of 193 UN member states recognize Palestine as a state.