Greece offers to mediate as Palestinian President Abbas visits

A government source said Sunday that the Greek parliament is set to recognize the state of Palestine in a parliamentary vote to be attended by Abbas during his visit.

Greece has enjoyed traditionally good relations with both the Palestinian side and the Arab world, and has built close ties with Israel in recent years, especially in the energy sector.

The Greek parliament voted in a resolution recognising the state of Palestine on Tuesday making it the latest European legislative body to recognise Palestine statehood. On Monday afternoon he met consecutively with the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Because of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and dispute over Jerusalem, many countries refuse to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, much to Israel’s displeasure.

Deputy Speaker Tassos Kourakis called the resolution “an important step” towards getting global recognition for Palestine. It comes amid an official visit to Greece by the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

“Greece can play this role of a bridge in the direction of a just and viable solution to the Palestine issue”, he said. The vote comes amid warming Israel-Greek relations. He said that Greece will take the necessary steps to recognize Palestine “when the time is right”.

The others, mainly countries from the former Soviet bloc, recognised Palestine in 1988 when the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) published a Palestinian Declaration of Independence.