Marcelo recalled, however, that Portugal has long defended the two-state solution
Echoing what the government had already said earlier this week, Portugal’s President has said now is “not the right time” to formally recognise the State of Palestine.
Speaking on Wednesday on the day that Spain, Norway and Ireland announced they will be recognising Palestine as an independent state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made it very clear that Portugal has been a fierce supporter of the ‘two-state system’ for Israel and Palestine.
“Portugal has defended for a long time, in line with the United Nations, the existence of two peoples and two States,” he said, adding that Portugal has taken several steps towards this goal.
According to Marcelo, Portugal took a first step went it recognised that Palestine should be “associated, in terms of status, in the framework of the legal regime of the UN,” and has “now taken another step, when it decided that (Palestine) should become a full member of UN” in a vote on May 10.
But fully recognising Palestine as an independent state is a decision that the country is not quite ready to make.
“Portugal’s position – and this is not the position of the government, parliament, or the president, it is the position of Portugal as a whole – is that given when these steps were taken, now is not the adequate moment to take this step. When it is adequate, it will be adequate,” said Portugal’s President of the Republic during a two-day visit to Italy.
Earlier this week, a source from Portugal’s ministry of foreign affairs said that the country is “trying to achieve the greatest possible consensus among the members of the European Union” before coming right out and declaring Palestine as an independent state.
“It’s just a question of the moment,” said the source, pointing out that Portugal has a mediating position in the EU on this issue and is therefore “in consultations with various States to reach the greatest consensus and bring the greatest number of countries to the solution” of two States: Israel and Palestine.
