Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognize a Palestinian state

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Above, a protester holds a Palestinian flag atop scaffoldings of a building during a demonstration in Paris, on May 27, 2024. (AFP)
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Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is pictured as he delivers a speech on TV over the recognition of Palestinian statehood by Spain in Madrid on May 28, 2024. (AFP)
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Above, protesters in front of the foreign affairs ministry in Madrid on May 27, 2024. The Spanish Cabinet will recognize a Palestinian state at its Tuesday morning meeting. (AFP)
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Updated 28 May 2024
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Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognize a Palestinian state

  • While some 140 countries have recognized a Palestinian state none of the major Western powers has done so

BARCELONA: Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state on Tuesday in a coordinated effort by the three western European nations to add international pressure on Israel to soften its devastating response to last year’s Hamas-led attack. Tel Aviv slammed the diplomatic move that will have no immediate impact on its grinding war in Gaza.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told his nation in a televised address from Madrid that “this is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly lashed out at Spain on X, saying Sanchez’s government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes.”

Ireland and Norway soon joined Spain in formalizing a decision they had jointly announced the previous week.

The Palestinian flag was raised in Dublin outside Leinster House, the seat of the Irish parliament.

“This is an important moment and I think it sends a signal to the world that there are practical actions you can take as a country to help keep the hope and destination of a two-state solution alive at a time when others are trying to sadly bomb it into oblivion,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said before his Cabinet meets to formally sign off on the decision.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement that “for more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest advocates for a Palestinian state. Today, when Norway officially recognizes Palestine as a state, is a milestone in the relationship between Norway and Palestine.”

While some 140 countries have recognized a Palestinian state — more than two-thirds of the United Nations — none of the major Western powers has done so. Still, the adherence of three European countries to the group represents a victory for Palestinian efforts in the world of public opinion, and will likely put pressure on EU heavyweights France and Germany to rethink their position.

Relations between the EU and Israel have nosedived with the diplomatic recognitions by two EU members, and Madrid insisting on Monday that the EU should take measures against Israel for its continued deadly attacks in southern Gaza’s city of Rafah.

After Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said “for the first time at an EU meeting, in a real way, I have seen a significant discussion on sanctions” for Israel.

Harris, the Irish leader, insisted Tuesday the EU should consider economic sanctions for Israel, saying “Europe could be doing a hell of a lot more.”

Norway, which is not an EU member but often aligns its foreign policy with the bloc, handed diplomatic papers to the Palestinian government over the weekend ahead of its formal recognition.

At the same time, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threw his weight behind the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including leaders of the Hamas militant group.

The formal declaration and resulting diplomatic dispute come over seven months into an assault waged by Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack in which militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. Israel’s air and land attacks have killed 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Last week’s joint announcement by Spain, Ireland and Norway triggered an angry response from Israeli authorities, which summoned the countries’ ambassadors in Tel Aviv to the Foreign Ministry, where they were filmed while being shown videos of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and abductions.

Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob said Monday his government will decide on the recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday and forward its decision to parliament for final approval.

The United States and Britain, among others, back the idea of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but say it should come as part of a negotiated settlement. Netanyahu’s government says the conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations.

In his speech on Tuesday, Sanchez said that the recognition of a Palestinian state was “a decision that we do not adopt against anyone, least of all against Israel, a friendly people whom we respect, whom we appreciate and with whom we want to have the best possible relationship.”

The Socialist leader has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries, including stops in Oslo and Dublin, to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state. He called for a permanent cease-fire, for stepping up humanitarian aid into Gaza and for the release of hostages still held by Hamas.

Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, will meet with the Arab Contact Group in Spain’s capital on Wednesday, including Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan.

Sanchez said that his intention was to back the beleaguered Palestinian Authority, which lost effective political control of Gaza to Hamas. He laid out his vision for a state ruled by the Palestinian Authority that must connect the West Bank and Gaza via a corridor with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, cooperates with Israel on security matters and favors a negotiated two-state solution. Its forces were driven out of Gaza by Hamas when the militants seized power there in 2007.

The Palestinians have long sought an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The idea of a land corridor linking Gaza and the West Bank through Israel was discussed in previous rounds of peace talks, but no serious or substantive peace negotiations have been held in over 15 years.

“We will not recognize changes in the 1967 border lines other than those agreed to by the parties,” Sanchez added.

“Furthermore, this decision reflects our absolute rejection of Hamas, a terrorist organization who is against the two-state solution,” Sanchez said. “From the outset, Spain has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7. This clear condemnation is the resounding expression of our steadfast commitment in the fight against terrorism. I would like to underline that starting tomorrow we would focus all our efforts to implement the two state solution and make it a reality.”

Ireland’s government said that it will appoint an ambassador and create a full embassy in Ramallah in the West Bank.

Israel, which rejects the possibility of Palestinian statehood, recalled its ambassadors to Ireland, Norway and Spain after they announced the decision last week.

Norway’s Barth Eide added Tuesday that “it is regrettable that the Israeli government shows no signs of engaging constructively.”

“The recognition is a strong expression of support for moderate forces in both countries,” Norway’s top diplomat said.


UK orders Apple to give it access to users’ encrypted accounts, Washington Post reports

A person holds an iPhone 15 Pro at the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP)
Updated 08 February 2025
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UK orders Apple to give it access to users’ encrypted accounts, Washington Post reports

  • UK’s office of the Home Secretary has served Apple with a document called a technical capability notice, ordering it to provide the access, as per Washington Post

LONDON: Britain’s security officials have ordered that Apple create a so-called ‘back door’ allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, The Washington Post reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter.
Rather than break the security promises it made to its users everywhere, Apple is likely to stop offering encrypted storage in the UK, the report said, citing unnamed sources.
UK’s office of the Home Secretary has served Apple with a document called a technical capability notice, ordering it to provide the access, as per Washington Post.
Apple did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.
Britain’s interior ministry did not immediately comment on the report.
Britain in January used its regulatory powers to launch an investigation into Apple and Google’s smartphone operating systems, app stores and browsers.

 

 


Migrants who break law ‘will be deported’: Polish prime minister

Updated 07 February 2025
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Migrants who break law ‘will be deported’: Polish prime minister

  • Tusk, whose centrist camp faces an electoral threat from the nationalists in the May presidential vote, has in past months vowed to suspend asylum rights partially and backed curbing benefits for Ukrainian refugees

WARSAW: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday said his government would draw up plans to deport migrants who break the law of the EU country as Poland nears a key presidential election in May.
Tusk also reiterated criticism of the EU migrant relocation scheme during a press conference in the port city of Gdansk alongside European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
“Anyone who is hosted in Poland, takes advantage of our hospitality and violently violates the law will be deported from Poland,” Tusk said.
He added that the government was working on a “plan for an immediate response to organized crime and violent crime carried out by foreigners.”
He said an outline of the plan, drawn up by the justice and interior ministries, would be presented in the coming days.
Tusk, whose centrist camp faces an electoral threat from the nationalists in the May presidential vote, has in past months vowed to suspend asylum rights partially and backed curbing benefits for Ukrainian refugees.
On Friday, he also said Poland would not accept any “burdens” related to the EU migrant relocation scheme.
Last year, the EU significantly overhauled asylum rules, requiring member states to remove thousands of asylum-seekers from “frontline” states such as Italy and Greece.
Alternatively, they could provide money or other resources to under-pressure nations.
“If anyone in Europe were to say that Poland should take on even more burdens, then no matter who it is, I will tell them that Poland will not fulfill that. The end,” Tusk said.
He said Poland had already “opened its borders and hearts to two million refugees from Ukraine” following the Russian invasion and was facing illegal migration across its border with Belarus.
States in eastern Europe have accused Russia and its ally Belarus of pushing thousands of migrants over their borders in recent years as part of a campaign to destabilize Europe.

 


Zelensky says N Korean troops back on Russia front line

Updated 07 February 2025
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Zelensky says N Korean troops back on Russia front line

  • “There have been new assaults in the Kursk operation areas... the Russian army and North Korean soldiers have been brought in again,” Zelensky said
  • The Ukrainian leader said a “significant number” of opposing troops had been “destroyed“

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that North Korean troops were back on the front line in Russia’s Kursk region, after reports Moscow had withdrawn them due to heavy losses.
More than 10,000 soldiers from the reclusive state were sent to Russia last year to help it fight back a shock Ukrainian offensive into the border region, according to South Korean and Western intelligence.
A Ukrainian military spokesman told AFP last Friday that Kyiv had not encountered activity or clashes with North Korean troops for three weeks.
“There have been new assaults in the Kursk operation areas... the Russian army and North Korean soldiers have been brought in again,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
The Ukrainian leader said a “significant number” of opposing troops had been “destroyed.”
“We are talking about hundreds of Russian and North Korean soldiers,” he added.
Kyiv captured dozens of border settlements in its Kursk assault six months ago, the first time a foreign army had crossed into Russian territory since World War II.
The North Korean deployment, never officially confirmed by Moscow or Pyongyang, was supposed to reinforce the Russian army and help them expel Ukraine’s troops.
But as of February Ukraine still holds swathes of Russian territory, something Zelensky sees as a bargaining chip in any future negotiations with Moscow.


UK’s Lammy warns US aid cuts could see China step into ‘gap’

Updated 07 February 2025
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UK’s Lammy warns US aid cuts could see China step into ‘gap’

LONDON: British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday warned that US President Donald Trump’s moves to freeze foreign aid and dismantle the USAID agency could see “China and others step into that gap.”
The UK’s top diplomat pointed to reforms by Britain’s previous Conservative government to its foreign aid program as “a big strategic mistake” which the new Trump administration should “look closely at.”
In 2020 the UK government closed down the Department for International Development (DfID) and subsumed it into the Foreign Office, before slashing the aid budget the following year.
The moves earned widespread criticism at the time from aid groups and others in the sector, as well as the countries’ opposition parties.
“What I can say to American friends is it’s widely accepted that the decision by the UK with very little preparation to close down DfID, to suspend funding in the short term or give many global partners little heads up, was a big strategic mistake,” Lammy told the Guardian.
“We have spent years unraveling that strategic mistake. Development remains a very important soft power tool. And in the absence of development... I would be very worried that China and others step into that gap,” he added.
“So I would caution US friends to look closely at what went wrong in the United Kingdom as they navigate this decision.”
Trump on Friday called for the United States Agency for International Development to be shut down, in an escalation of his unprecedented campaign to dismantle the massive government aid agency that has prompted confusion and chaos among its global network.
His administration has already frozen foreign aid and ordered thousands of foreign-based staff to return to the United States, with reported impacts on the ground steadily growing.


Philippine vice president preparing for impeachment battle but silent on option to resign

Updated 07 February 2025
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Philippine vice president preparing for impeachment battle but silent on option to resign

  • A potential conviction and ban on Duterte holding office would be a major setback to one of the country’s most prominent political families

MANILA: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Friday that her lawyers were preparing for a legal battle in her upcoming impeachment trial but refused to say if resignation was an option so she could preempt a possible conviction that would bar her from running for president in the future.

Duterte was speaking for the first time since the House of Representatives impeached her Wednesday on a raft of criminal charges, including plotting to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assassinated, which she again denied. Marcos was her running mate in the 2022 elections but they have had a bitter falling out.
At the news conference, she underscored economic hardships and said the lives of Filipinos have become “much worse” due to skyrocketing costs of living.
“God save the Philippines,” Duterte said and asked her supporters to turn to social media to express their sentiments instead of holding street protests to avoid disrupting their lives.
A potential conviction and ban on Duterte holding office would be a major setback to one of the country’s most prominent political families that has been perceived as veering toward China.
The impeachment complaint focused on the alleged threats to Marcos, irregularities in the use of office funds and Duterte’s failure to stand up to Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea, according to proponents of the petition. The Senate is to take up the case when it reconvenes in June.
Marcos has boosted defense ties with Washington, Manila’s longtime treaty ally, as the Philippines faced China’s increasing aggressive actions in the contested waters.
The vice president’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, nurtured cozy ties during his term with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin while threatening to end US military engagements in the Philippines.
That backdrop has made the impeachment proceedings important to the US and China, whose rivalry for influence looms large in the region, said Jean Franco, a political professor at the state-run University of the Philippines.
“China will lose a perceived ally if Duterte gets convicted,” Franco said. The US, which saw its alliance with Manila called into question under the previous Duterte administration, would benefit, she said.
Asked if she was considering resignation, a move that would preempt a possible conviction that would block her from running in the 2028 presidential elections, Duterte refused to give a categorical reply.
“We’re still too far from those matters,” she said, adding that a large number of lawyers have signed up to join her impeachment defense.
She reiterated that she was open to seeking the presidency in 2028 when asked, but added that she has to assess her chances. The vice president’s popularity rating has declined in independent surveys, but she is still regarded as a leading presidential contender.
“We’re seriously considering that but it’s difficult to decide without the numbers,” she said.