What does the recognition of the Palestinian state mean by European countries?

Answers to the main questions about the controversial solution of Norway, Ireland and Spain

Oscar del Pozo / AFP / Scanpix / Leta Banner in the form of an unofficial national symbol of Spain - the Bull of Osborne - with the inscription "Freedom Palestine." Suburb of Madrid, March 27, 2024

The authorities of the three European countries - Norway, Ireland and Spain - announced that on May 28 they recognize Palestine as a state, violating the almost consensus position of Western Europe and the United States, according to which the Palestinians had to first achieve such recognition in the negotiations with Israel. At the same time, most countries of the world - about 140 - the Palestinian state already recognize. The replenishment of this club with three European countries is of important symbolic significance for Palestine and is damaged by the fundamental position of Israel and its allies. But the decision of Norway, Ireland and Spain does not mean at all that the Palestinians will now have a full -fledged state. The agency Bloomberg and The Guardian newspaper mean what consequences will have and what consequences will have. "Medusa" retells the most important points from the materials of publications.

Why did Norway, Ireland and Spain decide to recognize the Palestinian state?

The authorities of Norway, which has long played an important role in the process of peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict (with its mediation in the early 1990s, agreements were signed, which were supposed to lead the parties to the world), explained that their motive was the support of moderate forces that appeal to the world Against the backdrop of the full -scale operation of the Israeli liberation army in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas militants attack on October 7 2023. “In the midst of the war, against the backdrop of tens of thousands of killed and wounded people, we are obliged to support the only alternative, offering the political resolution of the conflict for Israelis and Palestinians: two states living side by side in the world and security,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gard Steer.

The head of the Spanish government Pedro Sanchez in his rhetoric was more radical in relation to the Israeli colleague Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of unleashing the “massacre” of gas and undermining the process of peaceful settlement: “We must use political resources that are at our disposal to declare loudly And it is clear that we are not going to allow to destroy the possibility of the script of the two states by force. This is the only fair and stable solution for this terrible conflict. ”

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris in his comment emphasized that in the coming weeks he expects similar steps to recognize the Palestinian state and from other countries. At the same time, he noted that Ireland certainly recognizes the right to exist in “security and peace with its neighbors”, and also called for the liberation of all captured Hamas on October 7, 2023.

These three countries were the first to recognize the Palestinian state in Europe?

No. The first country in the status of a member of the European Union, which made such a decision, back in 2014, Sweden became. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden then explained that “this is an important step confirming the right of the Palestinian people to self -determination,” and also expressed hope that other Western countries follow the example of Stockholm. At the same time, many European states at that time already considered Palestine the state-since the late 1980s: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The full map of the countries that recognized the independence of Palestine at different times can be studied, for example, here .

What does it mean to be a state? And can Palestine be called the state?

There are no official and recognized by all countries the criteria for determining the state in the world. According to the Monetvideo Convention signed at the VII Panamacherican conference , one of the few international (but regional) documents determining the legal personality of the state from the point of view of international public law, so that some territory could be recognized by the state, four fundamental signs should be observed :

permanent population;
a certain territory;
own government;
The ability to enter relations with other states.

You can learn more about the principles of determining state sovereignty in the release of the “Signal” newsletter , dedicated to the term “unrecognized states”.

The territory controlled by the Palestinians - the western bank of the Jordan River and the gas sector - fully meet only the first of these four criteria.

Territorial disputes with Israel do not allow us to talk about the sustainable territorial integrity of Palestine.
Everything is also difficult with its own government. In the early 1990s, Israel recognized the organization of Palestine (OOP) by the legitimate governing body of Palestine. But OOP never had full control over the entire Palestinian territory. And in the GAZ sector, OOP did not have any levers of management after the coming to power of Hamas in 2007. Since then in the education that many countries are recognized as the Palestinian state, dual power has actually reigned. At the same time, the current leadership of the OOP, led by Mahmud Abbas, is unpopular even on the west coast.
The agreements concluded by Israel and the OOP, before the parties to reach a compromise on the conduct of clear interstate borders, limited Palestine in the possibility of entering into international treaties in the economic, cultural, scientific and educational fields.

Then what do the recognition mean for Palestine, similar to what Norway, Ireland and Spain have done?

Such decisions, despite the rather symbolic meaning, are important from the point of view of giving legitimacy the process of state construction. In 1988, OOP proclaimed the creation of the Palestinian state. Over the past three and a half years, most countries of the world have recognized the legitimacy of this state, even despite its obvious discrepancy with key criteria. In 2012, Palestine, by decision of the UN General Assembly, received the status of an observer in the main international organization. This means that the Palestinian state can participate in the development of UN decisions, but cannot vote for them.

Most likely, it will not be possible to become a full -fledged member of the organization: this requires the consent of at least nine of 15 countries - members of the UN Security Council, while regular members of the Council - China, France, Russia, Great Britain and the United States - have the right to veto. The United States, as the main ally of Israel, is hardly to ever go to the recognition of Palestine until the parties to reach the world. We saw evidence of this recently, in May 2024: the UN General Assembly called on members of the Security Council to recognize the Palestinian autonomy as a full-fledged member of the organization-and met Washington’s refusal . So, most likely, there will be no fundamental practical consequences of the current decision of Norway, Ireland and Spain.

And what do these decisions mean for Israel?

For the current authorities of Israel, this is certainly the bad news, which is built into the already negative context of the reaction of a significant part of the international community to the methods of warfare in the gas sector.

The recognition of Palestine with three European countries occurred against the backdrop of the threat of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of Karim Khan to give the order to the arrest of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense of Israel Yoava Galanta on charges of committing war crimes.
In addition, the United States, Great Britain and other countries in the spring imposed sanctions against Israeli settlers from the west coast and the ultra -right political groups supporting the Palestinian occupation policy.

The prevention of the creation of the Palestinian state is the fundamental position of Netanyahu. He repeatedly openly stated that he had made every effort to sabotage the creation of the state of Palestine after 1993 agreements concluded in Oslo, and emphasized that he was proud of this. As an alternative, the current Israeli prime minister offers the preservation of the status quo: Palestine remains an autonomy with indefinite international legal status, and military control over its territory remains behind Israel.

Against this background, in Israel itself, fears of an even deeper international isolation of the country are growing, which can affect not only supporters of the current government, but also its opponents - and even people who support the decision to create two states.

And how many in Israel and Palestine support the idea of two states?

Their minority. And polls show that over the past decade the number of Israelis and Palestinians who support such a scenario has decreased slightly. According to the March study , in Palestine, 52% of the population oppose the very idea of the Israeli state. In turn, the data from mid -February show that 55% of the Israeli do not support the idea of independent Palestine, even if, according to the results of operations in gas, it will be a demilitarized state.

"Jellyfish"