Mahmoud Abbas urges EU to ”swiftly recognise” Palestine

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has urged European Union (EU) countries to “swiftly recognise” the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. His comments from Brussels on Monday came on the same day as Mike Pence, the US vice president, told Israel’s parliament that the US would move its Israeli […]

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has urged European Union (EU) countries to “swiftly recognise” the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.

His comments from Brussels on Monday came on the same day as Mike Pence, the US vice president, told Israel’s parliament that the US would move its Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

Palestinians leaders boycotted Pence’s visit amid continued anger at the US decision last month to relocate the embassy and recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.  At a meeting with the EU’s foreign ministers, Abbas called the 28-nation bloc a “true partner and friend” and urged it to step up “political” efforts in the Middle East 

EU recognition of Palestine would not disrupt the “the resumption of negotiations” with Israel on a peace settlement, he said. Instead, it “would encourage the Palestinian people to keep hoping for peace and to wait until peace is brought about”.