LJUBLJANA: Slovenia’s parliament on Tuesday passed a decree recognizing a Palestinian state, pushing ahead with a vote in defiance of an opposition motion to derail it.
Fifty-two members of the 90-member parliament voted in favor of the government-sponsored decree to recognize a Palestinian state.
The vote followed a similar move by three other European nations last week in response to the devastating Gaza war.
The opposition boycotted the vote except for one lawmaker who attended but abstained.
Slovenia’s center-left government sent the decree on recognizing a Palestine state for parliamentary approval last Thursday as part of efforts to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible.
The conservative opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by former prime minister Janez Jansa on Monday then filed a proposal to hold an advisory referendum on the recognition.
It said Slovenia should remain with the majority of EU states that have decided now is not the right time for such a move.
By filing the motion, the SDS had expected to delay the vote on the recognition since the legislation sets a 30-day deadline before lawmakers can vote on a disputed bill.
At Tuesday’s session, 52 lawmakers rejected the motion.
Parliamentary speaker Urska Klakocar Zupancic said the opposition had “abused the referendum mechanism” and announced parliament would proceed with the vote as planned.
She quoted legal interpretations, according to which the 30-day deadline referred only to bills rather than to decrees such as one recognizing a foreign state.
Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state last week, bringing to 145 the number of the United Nations’ 193 member states that have recognized the statehood, according to the Palestinian authorities.
With the decree, Slovenia recognizes the Palestinian state within the territories set by a 1967 UN resolution or according to any future peace agreement reached by both parties.
Slovenia recognizes Palestinian state, defying delay bid
https://arab.news/ybr5e
Slovenia recognizes Palestinian state, defying delay bid
- The vote followed a similar move by three other European nations last week in response to the devastating Gaza war
Venezuela denounces ‘extremely serious military aggression’ by US
- The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a navy task force to the Caribbean, raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela
CARACAS: Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard in Caracas around 2:00 am (0600 GMT) Saturday, an AFP journalist reported.
The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a navy task force to the Caribbean, raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela.
Sounds of explosions were still being heard around 2:15 am, although their exact location was unclear.
Trump on Monday said the United States hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
The Republican leader would not say if it was a military or CIA operation or where the strike occurred, noting only that it was “along the shore.”
The attack would be the first known land strike on Venezuelan soil.
President Nicolas Maduro has neither confirmed nor denied Monday’s strike, but said Thursday he was open to cooperation with Washington after weeks of US military pressure.
The Trump administration has accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel and says it is cracking down on trafficking, but the leftist leader denies any involvement in the narcotics trade, saying Washington is seeking to overthrow him because Venezuela has the largest known reserves of oil on Earth.
Washington has ramped up pressure on Caracas by informally closing Venezuela’s airspace, imposing more sanctions and ordering the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.
For weeks Trump has threatened ground strikes on drug cartels in the region, saying they would start “soon,” with Monday being the first apparent example.
US forces have also carried out numerous strikes on boats in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September, targeting what Washington says are drug smugglers.
The administration has provided no evidence that the targeted boats were involved in drug trafficking, however, prompting debate about the legality of these operations.
The deadly maritime campaign has killed at least 107 people in at least 30 strikes, according to information released by the US military.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday declared a state of an emergency over what his goverment called an “extremely serious military aggression” by the United States on the capital Caracas.
Multiple explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard around the city, an AFP journalist reported.
“Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and people,” Maduro’s government said.
