Sweden to grant $200 million to Palestine

Sweden is set to give Palestine up to 1.5 billion kronor ($200 million) in aid, Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom has announced, hours after it became the first European Union country to officially recognize Palestine as a state.

Wallstrom said in a statement on Thursday that Palestine fulfilled the criteria for recognition as a state in international law despite it not having fixed borders, and would receive between 500 million kronor ($68 million) and 1.5 billion kronor under a five-year assistance plan.

Wallstrom said: ”There is a territory, there is also a population. There is also a government with the opportunity to exhibit internal and external control.”

Sweden has previously recognized states – Croatia in 1992 and Kosovo in 2008 – even though they lacked effective control over parts of its territory, Wallstrom said, underlying that Palestine was a similar case.