Foreign minister to press for EU consensus on Palestine
"There is a feeling that now is the moment to act"
In anticipation of the upcoming September vote in the United Nations on recognition of the State of Palestine, Spain's foreign minister, Trinidad Jiménez, is planning on pressing EU ministers to reach a majority agreement on "moving forward with recognition."
In an interview with EL PAÍS, Jiménez said that Spain feels that now is the time to take a step forward after the events of the Arab Spring, given that Palestinians "also want to form part of that expectation of democracy and freedom seen in the Arab world."
Jiménez and her European counterparts, who remain heavily divided on the issue, will meet on September 2 in Sopot, Poland, ahead of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly later that month.
The Palestinian Authority is soon to present the UN with its bid for statehood, within the 1967 borders, a move that Jiménez feels cannot be perceived of by Israel as anythingother thana genuine move toward finding a peaceful solution to the prolonged conflict.
"There is a feeling that now is the moment to act," Jiménez states in the interview. "We need to send a signal, because if not, it could cause a great deal of frustration among the Palestinian people."
