Greece Set to Recognize “Palestine”

“Regarding the issue of a passport, referring to the State of Palestine, it is now necessary to…start issuing new passports”.

He expressed the gratitude of the Palestinian people. “We no longer accept from anybody to use the name Palestinian Authority”, Abbas said at a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, according to the Jerusalem Post.

House Speaker Nikos Voutsis read out a resolution calling for the recognition and handed a copy of it to Mr. Abbas.

The Palestinian president’s speech is at the moment ongoing at the Greek parliament’s Senate chamber.

He said Greece will “judge the right time” for recognising a state of Palestine, taking into account its “brotherly relations with the Arab people and ties of cooperation with Israel”.

In 2012, Palestine was recognized by the United Nations as a non-member observer state.

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.

This support was brought about by a series of motions adopted by a number of European parliaments.

The Greek leader appeared to take on the challenge and said that his government would makes some moves in the near future to emphasize its willingness to play a constructive role.

Nine EU members-the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Cyprus and Sweden-have so far recognised Palestine.

“Greece can play this role of a bridge in the direction of a just and viable solution to the Palestine issue”, he said.

“We give new impetus to the resolution of the Palestinian issue”, he added.