Denmark: parliament rejects proposal to recognise Palestinian state

Denmark’s parliament on Tuesday voted down a bill to recognise a Palestinian state, after the foreign minister said previously that the necessary preconditions for an independent country were lacking, Reuters has reported. The Danish bill was first proposed in late February by four left-wing parties.

“We cannot recognise an independent Palestinian state, for the sole reason that the preconditions are not really there,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said when the bill was first debated in parliament in April. “We cannot support this resolution, but we wish that there will come a day where we can.” He was not present at the vote on Tuesday.

Denmark has since 7 October claimed that Israel has a right to defend itself, but has more recently urged the country to show restraint and maintained that it must respect international law.

Ireland, Spain and Norway today formally recognised a Palestinian state, after their announcement last week that they would do so angered Israel. The occupation state called the move a “reward for terrorism” and recalled its ambassadors from all three capitals.

Dublin, Madrid and Oslo have painted their decision as a move aimed at accelerating efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war against the Palestinians in Gaza, and have urged other countries to follow suit.

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