Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki on Thursday urged Spain and the rest of the European Union to recognise a Palestinian state with borders from before the 1967 Six Day War. Since the collapse of peace talks with Israel last year, the Palestinians have campaigned to gain recognition of statehood and UN membership when the General Assembly meets in New York in September.
“We hope the European Union will take a decision to collectively recognise a Palestinian state with the 1967 borders,” Malki told a conference in Madrid during an official visit that began Friday.
“We have the hope that Spain will lead the EU countries in the official recognition of the Palestinian state,” he said, calling on Madrid to take an “active role” in persuading other members.
Peace negotiations have been on hold since late September 2010 when the Israelis refused to renew a partial freeze on building Israeli settlements on land that the Palestinians want for their future state.
