Alwaght-According to Russia Today, Sweden’s new Prime Minister Stefan Loven announced the intention to recognize Palestine as a state on Friday last week. The country is poised to become the first member of the EU to do so, since the current members that recognize Palestine - namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Romania - did so before joining the union.
Over 130 UN members have recognized Palestine’s statehood so far. Notable absentees among them include the America, Canada, all Western European members of the EU, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
Earlier on Sunday the embassy came up with a statement on Sweden’s position.
"The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be resolved through a two-state solution," the statement read, noting that such an agreement must be "negotiated in accordance with the principles of international law."
"It must guarantee the legitimate demands of both the Palestinians and the Israelis for national self-determination and security. A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to coexist peacefully," the statement continued.
Israel regime and the US both warned Stockholm against the move. Zionist regime called Loven’s decision “rushed” and the America said it was “premature".
The Israeli regime foreign ministry had called in the Swedish ambassador to protest against Stockholm's intentions to recognize a Palestinian state.
Carl Magnus Nesser was summoned on Monday by the ministry's deputy director general for Europe, Aviv Shir-On, who "protested and expressed Israel's disappointment".
Swedish officials insist that Sweden want to have constructive relations with Washington and Tel Aviv, but would decide on their policies on their own. The situation is clear, peace talks have been suspended for a while, and I think the conflict in Gaza made it clear that the status quo needs to be changed,” Sweden’s Ambassador to Israel Carl Magnus told Army Radio on Monday morning.
Some observers thought that the future recognition would be conditional on the renewal or even success of the negotiations, but the embassy denied it and said that Stockholm would recognize Palestine regardless of "any negotiations or anything else".
The Palestinian authority hailed the announcement and said it hopes that other EU members would follow Sweden’s lead.
