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Greek government urged to recognise Palestine

October 18, 2016 at 4:40 pm

Greece’s ruling left-wing Syriza party called for the Greek government to recognise the state of Palestine at the party’s second congress held in Athens, after months of delay in implementing a Greek parliament decision to recognise Palestine.

The congress was attended by a delegation for the Fatah movement, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ruling party.

Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, who participated in the event that took place between 14-16 October, welcomed the decision, which he said was representative of the wider view of Greek citizens toward Palestine and Fatah.

The delegation also included Fatah officials Abdullah Abdullah, Zuheir Al-Wazir, Marwan Al-Tubasi and Kifah Radayda.

Last month, the Greek foreign minister affirmed to his Palestinian counterpart Greece’s support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state along 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, following a meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

While the Greek parliament voted in favour of a decision to recommend the government recognise a state of Palestine in December, the decision has not yet come to fruition.

In June, a Syriza delegation told Palestinian lawmakers that despite the delay, the government was set to officially recognise the state of Palestine “soon”, without setting an exact timetable for the future recognition.

If implemented, Greece would become the second European country to officially recognise the Palestinian state, following Sweden’s decision in 2014.