Germany says no change in non-recognition of Palestinian state

BERLIN

Germany on Friday reaffirmed that a Palestinian state should be achieved through negotiations and not unilateral recognition, only days after French President Emmanuel Macron said he could formally recognize Palestine's statehood in June.

“The German government's position on this issue has not changed. It is and remains the goal of German foreign policy for Palestine to eventually exist as an independent state alongside Israel. This must be pursued within the framework of a negotiated two-state solution,” Christian Wagner, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told a press briefing in Berlin.

France could recognize the state of Palestine "in June" during an international conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia, Macron said on Wednesday.

"Our goal is to chair this conference (on Palestine) with Saudi Arabia sometime in June, where we could finalize this movement of mutual recognition by several parties," he added.

His remarks came amid growing international calls for a political resolution to the conflict in Gaza, where Israel has killed nearly 51,000 people since October 2023, and the wider Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Currently, 147 of the 193 UN member states recognize the state of Palestine. Last May, Spain, Ireland, and Norway joined the list, bringing the total number of EU countries granting recognition to 10. Others are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Romania.

Several other European countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, including Ukraine, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Belarus, have also recognized Palestinian statehood.

Germany also criticized far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for vowing to prevent the entry of “a grain of wheat” into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Smotrich "has repeatedly attracted attention in the past with statements that were not helpful in the context of the current conflict," Wagner said.

“But I think it's also quite clear that we are committed to ensuring that humanitarian aid gets into Gaza. There's far too little at the moment. The situation is catastrophic…,” he added.

Israel halted the delivery of aid to Gaza on March 2, hours after the end of the January ceasefire and prisoners exchange deal’s 42-day first phase.