LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenian lawmakers met Tuesday for a vote on recognizing a Palestinian state.
The The government has approved a motion to recognize a Palestinian state last week, sending the proposal to parliament for final approval, which is necessary for the decision to take effect.
“We started talking to our allies about recognizing Palestine in February this year,” the prime minister said Robert Golob told lawmakers. “At the time the assessment was – the time is not yet ripe… we warned that we, Europe, have a… duty to act.”
Slovenia’s move came just days later Spain, Norway and Ireland recognized a Palestinian state, which was condemned by Israel.
The ruling coalition led by Golob has a comfortable majority in Slovenia’s Senate Assembly, and the vote is expected to be a formality.
Golob also referred to Slovenia’s independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 in his remarks to parliament.
“We Slovenians have been dreaming of this right for a thousand years. We got it 33 years ago,” Golob said. “Unfortunately, the Palestinian nation has not yet received this right.”
More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state – more than two-thirds of the United Nations.
“Slovenia will join them,” Golob said.
Slovenia’s main opposition party, the Slovenian Democratic Party, opposes the recognition. The right-wing party has demanded a referendum on the issue that would delay the vote, but withdrew that offer on Tuesday.
Slovenia began the recognition process in early May, but said it would wait until the situation in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza improved. Golob has explained that in response, he accelerated the process Israel’s final attacks on Rafahcausing more than 1 million Palestinians to flee.
Israel launched the attack after the October 7 Hamas-led attack in which militants crossed the Gaza border into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.
Israel’s air and land strikes have killed more than 1,000 people since then According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, that number is 36,000 Palestiniansin which no distinction is made between combatants and civilians.
