Luxembourg plans to recognize the State of Palestine next week during the UN General Assembly in New York.
Arriving at an EU meeting in Brussels, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed statements made by Prime Minister Luc Frieden on Monday, following a closed-door meeting with members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Both Bettel and Frieden criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian organization Hamas, accusing them of opposing a two-state solution.
“We are convinced that a two-state solution can bring sustainable peace to the region,” Frieden emphasized.
“This will not happen overnight, but there is a movement that shows this solution remains important,” the Luxembourg Prime Minister added.
“For this reason, the Luxembourg government intends to join those recognizing the State of Palestine (…) next week,” Frieden concluded.
Following France and Saudi Arabia, which drafted the relevant text, several countries have announced their intention to recognize Palestine at next week’s UN General Assembly.
This process is seen as a tool to exert additional pressure on Israel to end the war in Gaza.
The so-called “New York Declaration”, now backed by a majority of UN member states, also calls for an end to the war in Gaza and a just, peaceful, and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the effective implementation of the two-state solution. The declaration is rejected by both Israel and the United States.
