Borrell: Spain, Ireland and Slovenia will recognize Palestine on May 21

– That is what Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has told me, Borrell says in an interview with the Irish broadcaster RTE.

– After that, more countries will probably follow suit. Belgium has also decided to do so, says Borrell.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) says that a Norwegian recognition will be coordinated with other European countries, but he does not want to say when this will happen.

– We have not yet announced a date, he says to NTB.

Challenging the government

Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob announced earlier this week that their recognition would come no later than 13 June.

SV challenged the government on Friday to follow suit.

– Recognize Palestine now, Støre, while there is still a Palestine, is the clear call from SV’s foreign policy spokesperson Ingrid Fiskaa.

– 70 percent of Gaza has been destroyed and the Israeli settlements will soon occupy the entire West Bank. What is the government’s strategy? To wait until everything is gone, she asks.

– When Spain’s prime minister visited Oslo in April, Støre said that the government would wait with recognition until more European countries joined. Well, now Slovenia has also joined the ranks, notes Fiskaa.

Symbolic value

SV believes that a Norwegian recognition should come as early as next week.

– Wednesday marks 76 years since the Nakba, when the Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their rightful land. A recognition of Palestine as a state on this day will have enormous symbolic value now that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once once more forcing the Palestinians to flee, says Fiskaa.

That’s not going to happen, says Eide.

– It may well be that this is relatively imminent, but it will not happen next week, says Eide.