Slovenia has become the latest European country to recognize a Palestinian state after a parliamentary vote

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia recognized Palestinian statehood on Tuesday after its parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move, following recent steps by three other European countries.

The Government of Slovenia supported A Last week to recognize the Palestinian stateThe proposal was sent to Parliament for final approval, which is necessary for the decision to enter into force.

Lawmakers voted 52 to 0 against recognition in the 90-seat parliament on Tuesday. The rest of the lawmakers did not attend the vote.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said on the social media platform X: “Dear people of Palestine, the final decision taken by Slovenia today is a message of hope and peace. We believe that only the two-state solution can lead to lasting peace in Palestine.” the #The Middle East. “Slovenia will continue to work tirelessly for the security of both countries, Palestinians and Israelis.”

Slovenia’s decision came days later Spain, Norway and Ireland It recognized the Palestinian state, a move condemned by Israel.

Previously, only seven of the 27-nation European Union officially recognized Palestinian statehood. Five of them are former Eastern Bloc countries that declared recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the European Union. Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.

“We started talking with our allies about recognizing Palestine in February of this year,” Prime Minister Robert Golub told lawmakers before the vote on Tuesday. “At that time, the assessment was that it was not time yet… We warned that we, in Europe, had… a duty to act.”

The ruling coalition led by Golub enjoys a comfortable majority in the Slovenian parliament, and the vote is expected to be a formality.

Golub also referred to Slovenia’s independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 in his remarks to parliament.

“We Slovenes have dreamed of this right for a thousand years. We have had it for 33 years,” Golob said. “It is unfortunate that the Palestinian people have not yet obtained this right.”

Slovenia’s main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Slovenia, opposes this recognition. The right-wing party demanded a referendum on the issue that would delay the vote, but withdrew its bid on Tuesday before making another request that was again rejected by Parliament.

Slovenia first began the recognition process in early May, but said it would wait until the situation continued The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to improve. Golub explained that he was speeding up the process in response The recent Israeli raids on the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza StripWhich led to the flight of more than a million Palestinians.

The war was sparked by a Hamas-led attack on October 7 in which militants stormed the Gaza border into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Since then, Israeli air and ground attacks have killed more than 100,000 people 36 thousand Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health in GazaWhich does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

More than 140 countries recognize the Palestinian state, more than two-thirds of the United Nations.