Foreign relations of the Palestinian National Authority

The Members of European Parliament (MEPs) failed on Tuesday to agree on a joint motion calling on EU member states to recognise the state of Palestine.

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A draft resolution on ending the Israeli occupation will be submitted to the UN Security Council Dec. 17 after the Palestinians agreed with France on a merged text, foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said.
      
"The draft that will be presented today (Wednesday) is the French draft based on Palestinian observations and decisions," Malki told AFP.
      

France's upper house of parliament on Dec. 11 urged the government to recognize Palestine as a state, following a similar and highly symbolic vote in the lower house.
      

The French Members of Parliament adopted with a large majority on Tuesday a resolution calling on the government to recognise the Palestinian state, and through this to achieve a final settlement of the conflict.

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The Palestinian leadership urged France to act on a parliamentary vote Dec. 2 in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, expressing its "gratitude" to the French lawmakers.

"We call on the French government to translate its parliament's vote into action," Hanan Ashrawi, a senior leader in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement.

French lawmakers were to debate on Nov. 28 a motion urging the government to recognize Palestine as a state, amid growing European frustration at the moribund Middle East peace process.
      
The symbolic motion is expected to pass comfortably on December 2 when the lower house of parliament votes on the text proposed by the ruling Socialists.
      

French lawmakers will vote later this month on a proposal urging the government to recognize Palestine as a state, a parliamentary source said Nov. 12, as diplomatic tensions continue to rise between Europe and Israel.
      

Sweden first "old EU member" to recognize Palestine

STOCKHOLM -- Sweden on Thursday formally recognizeD Palestine as a state, making it "the first old European Union member" to do so.

Sweden on Oct. 30 officially recognized the state of Palestine, Stockholm's foreign minister said, less than a month after the government announced its intention to make the controversial move. 

"Today the government takes the decision to recognise the state of Palestine," Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement published in the Dagens Nyheter daily.

Bulgaria's government will allocate BGN 97,800 humanitarian aid to alleviate the severe socioeconomic and humanitarian situation in Gaza, the government's press center has announced.

The funds will be granted to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which has extensive experience in humanitarian affairs.