Slovenia to recognize Palestine as a state

Palestine

Published: 2018-01-22 16:43

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 12:56


Slovenian ambassador Barbara Susnik (The Jerusalem Post)
Slovenian ambassador Barbara Susnik (The Jerusalem Post)


Slovenia may recognise Palestine as a state next month, along with Luxembourg, Ireland and Belgium, who are considering such a step, Israel’s Channel 10 reported on Sunday.

Earlier last month, the Slovenian Parliament Speaker Milan Brglez, told the Palestinian Ambassador Salah Abdel-Shafi, that Slovenia's recognition of a Palestinian state was a question of timing, according to Middle East Eye (MEE).

According to Channel, the Slovenian government decided to recognize a Palestinian state a week ago.

The Slovenian parliament’s foreign affairs committee is expected to hold a vote on the recognition on last day of January.

The issue of recognizing Palestinian statehood has been pending in the Slovenian parliament since 2014, Barbara Susnik, the Slovenian ambassador in Tel Aviv, told The Times of Israel.

Susnik said it's hard to predict how the parliament would vote, but said there is a good chance that parliamentarians would go for asserting Palestinians the right to self-determination.

“For the people of Slovenia, the principle of self-determination of nations is very important”, she said.

“That is how Slovenia became independent 26 years ago, when we exercised the right to self-determination. All nations have the right to self-determination”.

Meanwhile, the Channel 10 reported that Israel’s foreign ministry is trying to stop lawmakers from taking such a step.