Slovenia recognizes Palestine

The move comes as the Israel Defense Forces continues its deadly attacks on the city of Rafah in Gaza

The Slovenian government approved a decision to recognize an independent Palestinian state on Thursday, Prime Minister Robert Golob has announced. The Alpine country became the fourth European state to do so alongside Spain, Norway and Ireland.

The country’s parliament must ratify the government’s decision but it is widely seen as a formality as none of the parties in the 90-seat National Assembly are expected to oppose it. Slovenian lawmakers will vote on Tuesday, parliament speaker Urska Klakocar Zupancic has announced.

“The government has made a decision to recognize the State of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the borders from 1967, or the borders that the parties involved should agree on in a future peace agreement,” Golob told reporters after a government meeting in Ljubljana.

The prime minister emphasized that the resolution was not aimed against Israel but was an “a message of peace.”

Although the question of Palestine’s recognition was not on Slovenia’s government agenda on Thursday, Golob said he had pushed for a swift decision due to deadly attacks conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the Gazan city of Rafah in the past few days.

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Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon have supported the decision, saying there is “no reason” for further delays.

“The war is escalating, there are no negotiations [over] Gaza,” Fajon said ahead of the government meeting.

Slovenia is the latest European country to recognize Palestinian statehood, alongside Spain, Norway and Ireland.

Over the past few weeks, Israeli authorities have seen a steady decline in Western support due to the mounting death toll resulting from the IDF offensive.

Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian militants carried out a surprise cross-border raid on October 7 last year, killing some 1,100 people and taking more than 200 hostages. The Israeli military campaign has since left at least 36,224 people dead, according to health authorities in the Palestinian enclave.