Luxembourg to recognize unilateral Palestinian statehood next week

Luxembourg’s prime minister announces plans for his country to formally recognize the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral claim of statehood next week, joining France, Britain, Canada and other countries.

By World Israel News Staff

Luxembourg will recognize the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral declaration of statehood at the United Nations General Assembly next week, the country’s head of government and top diplomat told lawmakers.

On Monday, Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel addressed a parliamentary commission, informing them of the government’s decision to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.

According to local media outlets, the decision still needs to be finalized before recognition is granted.

Luxembourg is expected to announce its recognition of Palestinian statehood during the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Week, which kicks off next Tuesday.

A number of other countries that until now have opposed unilateral steps by the Palestinian Authority signaled they will recognize Palestinian statehood at the General Assembly next week.

France, Britain, Belgium, Australia, and Canada have all indicated they will use High-Level Week as a platform for announcements on recognition.

Last Friday, the UN General Assembly voted 142-10, with 12 abstentions, to back a non-binding resolution endorsing “tangible, timebound, and irreversible steps” toward a two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

MP Fred Keup of the right-wing Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) slammed the government for its plans to recognize Palestinian statehood without reforms to the Palestinian Authority and outside the context of a final-status agreement with Israel.

“I’m surprised at the 180-degree turn that Mr. Bettel and Mr. Frieden have taken, but it’s not clear who exactly has decided it,” Keup said, according to RTL Today.

“I think suddenly everything they have said in recent months no longer counts properly and we are going in a different direction. It has always been said that conditions must be met in order to grant recognition for Palestine. These have not been fulfilled. We also agree that Palestine should be recognized as a proper state, but certain conditions simply have to be met, and we are not seeing that at the moment.”