Sweden is set to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
Reuters (“Sweden to recognise state of Palestine“):
Sweden’s new center-left government will recognise the state of Palestine in a move that will make it the first major European country to take the step, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Friday.
The U.N. General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in 2012 but the European Union and most EU countries, have yet to give official recognition.
“The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law,” Lofven said during his inaugural address in parliament.
“A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful co-existence. Sweden will therefore recognise the state of Palestine.”
This is a reasonable and, indeed, long-overdue step. The UN declaration makes this theoretically international law, but it’s had no force until now. Others may be more likely to follow suit now that Sweden has taken the burden of going first.
One wonders whether Sweden’s incoming leadership has really thought this through, though. Theoretically, a Palestinian state would be held to a much higher standard than the quasi-sovereign Palestinian Authority is now. They’d be expected to stop terrorist attacks on Israel coming from within its borders. Likewise, an Israeli military incursion into a sovereign Palestine is legally different than one into a mere territory. Is Sweden prepared to take action?
