Portugal “always appreciates” the recognition of a Palestinian state, the foreign minister said this Wednesday, highlighting the “huge political significance” of the vote in favor of Palestine’s admission as a full UN member.
“As for formal recognition, as for this formal solemn act, we are always under evaluation. And therefore we did not say that we would do it, but we also did not say that we would not do it,” said the head of the Minister of Portuguese Diplomacy, Paulo Rangel during the hearings of the Parliamentary Committee on European Affairs regarding the European Council on 21 and 22 March 2024 and the extraordinary meeting of the European Council on 17 and 18 April.
The minister, questioned by Livre MP Rui Tavares, on the other hand, stressed that the vote to admit Palestine as a full member of the UN General Assembly “is a step of enormous international political significance.”
“And Portugal is there,” he stressed, noting that he proposed – and “at least two” countries agreed – to take this step during a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union, when an initiative from Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia proposed to the group states to recognize the State of Palestine.
Rangel defended the need to “send a clear signal to the Israeli government that it is acting badly, if not very badly, and in violation of international law” and to “support the Palestinians” after the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. , following the October 7 attacks by the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli territory.
The minister also stressed that the Portuguese government supports an “immediate ceasefire” and is “always on the side of the release of the Israeli hostages” who have remained in the Palestinian enclave for seven months, but he stressed: “We are no longer dependent on anything else “
“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic,” he emphasized.
Portugal, he added, could engage in “pedagogical work with countries in the global South” regarding the recognition of Palestine as a member of the UN – it currently has observer status.
“We hold international consultations, always maintaining that the hostages must be released, that Israel has the right to self-defense and that the two states, Palestine and Israel, have legitimacy,” the minister said.
Paulo Rangel also mentioned that the Portuguese government condemns the ongoing Israeli offensive in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, “although it is a surgical intervention and not the one that was announced, but this does not mean that it will not happen.” .
The head of diplomacy recalled that it was the PSD and SDF governments that voted for observer status for Palestine, which contradicts “the narrative that is sometimes created that some are the great protectors of the Palestinian people and others are the great oppressors.” Palestinian people and associated with international Zionism,” which prompted Rui Tavares to make a defense of honor and claim that such an accusation did not come from his bench.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.