Foreign Minister confirms: Luxembourg to recognise Palestine State

Arriving today at an EU meeting in Brussels, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed statements made by Prime Minister Luc Frieden on Monday, following a closed-door meeting with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Bethel and Frieden criticised both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Hamas organization, accusing them of opposing two-state settlement.

However, “we are convinced that the two-state solution could bring lasting peace to the region,” stressed Frieden.

This will not happen overnight, but there is a movement that shows that this solution is still important,” added Luxembourg's prime minister.

For this reason, the Luxembourg government aims to join those who will recognise the state of Palestine (...) next week,” it concluded.

After France and Saudi Arabia, which drafted the corresponding text, many countries have announced their intention to recognise the state of Palestine next week at the UN General Assembly.

This process is seen as a means to exert additional pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.

This “New York Declaration”, which is already supported by most UN member states, also calls for the “end of the war in Gaza” and “a just, peaceful and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on effective implementation of the solution with two states”. The statement is rejected by both Israel and the United States.