The Parliament of Slovenia approves by a majority of votes to recognize an independent Palestinian state

-
Today, Tuesday, the Parliament of Slovenia approved by a majority of votes to recognize an independent Palestinian state, becoming the fourth European country to officially recognize the State of Palestine after Spain, Ireland and Norway.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golub said: “It is a message of peace. We believe that the time has come for the whole world to unite its efforts towards a two-state solution (which) will bring peace to the Middle East,” stressing that “today’s recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state gives hope to the Palestinian people in the West Bank.” And the Gaza Strip.”

The Slovenian government explained through its account on the “X” platform that the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party withdrew this evening, before the parliament session, its proposal to hold a (popular) referendum regarding recognition of the State of Palestine, noting that 52 of the representatives of the 90-member parliament voted in favor of Recognizing the State of Palestine, while Democratic Party representatives left the session.

On Monday, the head of the Slovenian Democratic Party, Janez Jansa, said that the decision to recognize the State of Palestine “may cause damage to Slovenia in the long term.”

The government of Slovenia held a session last week to discuss the decision to recognize the State of Palestine. Golub said in statements after the session that his country decided to recognize the State of Palestine as an independent, sovereign state on the 1967 borders in accordance with international law and UN Security Council resolutions.

On Friday, the government of Slovenia raised the Palestinian flag on the government building in the capital, Ljubljana, along with its country’s flag and the flag of the European Union.

On May 28, Spain, Norway, and Ireland announced their recognition of the State of Palestine, bringing the number of countries recognizing it to 147 out of 193 countries in the United Nations General Assembly, before Slovenia’s recognition.