Portugal’s center-right government will consult with the main political parties and conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on the possible recognition of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on Monday.
Unlike neighboring Spain, where the left-wing government, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized Palestinian statehood in May 2024 and called on other European Union member states to do the same, Portugal has opted for a more cautious approach, saying it first wants to agree a common position with other EU members.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that his country, one of the most influential in the bloc, intends to recognize a Palestinian state, making it the first major Western country to do so.
His move comes amid growing global outrage over the famine and devastation in Gaza, where Israel is waging a war against Hamas militants. Britain and Canada have since said they might also recognize a Palestinian state.
“The government has decided to encourage consultations with the president and parliamentary political parties on considering the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a process that could be concluded at the United Nations General Assembly in September,” Montenegro said in a statement.
Approximately 144 of the 193 UN member states recognize Palestine as a state, including most of the global south and Russia, China and India. However, out of the 27 EU member states, only a handful of them do so, and they are mostly ex-communist countries, along with Sweden and Cyprus.
The UN General Assembly de facto approved the recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in November 2012, upgrading its observer status in the world organization from the level of “entity” to the level of “non-member state”.
