Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has said that his country could recognise a Palestinian state by June.
Macron, who recently travelled to Cairo to hold extensive talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah-El Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah on the ongoing Gaza war, said,
“We must move towards the recognition of the Palestinian state and we will do so in the coming months. I am not doing it to please anyone, but I feel this is the right time to do so,” he told France 5 Television in an interview.
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"And because I also want to take part in a collective dynamic that should also enable those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in their turn, something that many of them are not doing," he added.
“Our aim is to chair this conference with Saudi Arabia in June, where we could finalise this movement of mutual recognition (of a Palestinian state) by several parties,” he added.
Though Palestine has been recognised as a sovereign state by almost 150 countries, most major Western powers have not, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Japan.
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Among countries that do not recognise Israel are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
"Our objective is somewhere in June, with Saudi Arabia, to chair this conference where we could finalise the movement towards reciprocal recognition by several countries," Macron said.
Reacting to Macron’s statement, Palestinian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Aghabekian Shahin said that France’s recognition would be a step in the right direction and will safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people.
