Two days after the British parliament voted a motion to recognize a Palestinian state, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Paris should recognize a Palestinian state only if doing so would help achieve peace, not as a symbolic gesture.
If negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians fail, France "would not shirk its responsibilities" but would recognize the Palestinian state, Fabius said in response to a question in the parliament.
The vote in the Bitish parliament was symbolic as it doesn’t change the British government’s position that such a recognition must come after an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. But Britain said it could extend recognition if it believed doing so would help promote peace between the Palestinians and Israel.
"From the moment when we say that there are two states, there will be recognition of a Palestinian state. That goes without saying, it's logical," Fabius said.
"The only question are the modalities and how to do it in the most efficient way. What we want is not something symbolic, but something that is useful for peace."
"Until now the prevailing idea was that recognition should be linked to the negotiations," Fabius said. "But if negotiations were to prove impossible or have no conclusion, then France will naturally have to assume its responsibilities."
Two weeks ago, the new center-left Swedish government announced that it would recognize a Palestinian state, the first EU country to make such a move.