Greek Parliament calls on country to recognize Palestinians

Greece is set to recognise the state of Palestine in a parliamentary vote to be attended by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, a government source said today. The Parliamentary resolution is nonbinding and does not constitute in itself a full recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state. Its electoral platform in 2012 called for the “abolition of military cooperation with Israel [and] support for creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders”.

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. On Monday afternoon he met consecutively with the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

At the time, Abbas instructed the PA to re-issue official documents like passports, identity cards, registration documents, vehicle licenses, driver’s licenses, stamps and postmarks, replacing “Palestinian Authority” with “State of Palestine”.

FINALLY RECOGNIZE? Members of the Parliament will vote regarding the motion to recognize the state of Palestine.

In Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, Saeb Erakat, the number two of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), welcomed the resolution.

Athens has forged closer ties with Israel in recent years, especially in the field of energy, while retaining its traditionally good relations with the Palestinians. Tsipras visited Israel last month, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last year, Palestine was recognized as a state by Sweden, with the first Palestinian embassy opening in Stockholm in January 2015.

“So if the Palestinian issue is resolved, then the problem of terrorism that surrounds us all will also be resolved”, Abbas also told Tsipras.