The Belgian parliament on Thursday approved a resolution on a conditional recognition of a State of Palestine tabled by the parties forming the governing center-right coalition.
The text rejected by the left and green opposition invites the Belgian government to recognize a Palestinian State "at the right time" taking into account several parameters: the positive impact of this recognition to restart a negotiation process between Israel and Palestine, the evolution of cooperation within the European Union and the existence of a Palestinian government exercising full authority over the entire Palestinian territory.
The boundaries of this state shall be those of 1967 ‘’with changes agreed by both parties,’’ the text says.
"A unilateral recognition of the Palestinian state without negotiations, without conditions is a bad for our diplomacy and also counterproductive to the interests of the parties and to peace in the Middle East," said Liberal MP Kattrin Jardin, in defending the text of the resolution.
Several opposition parties called for an immediate and unconditional recognition, deploring that ‘’Belgium has not had the courage to give Palestinians a dignity."
In recent months, several national parliaments of the European Union, including France, Spain, Ireland and Britain, have approved motions calling for a unilateral recognition of Palestine. Last October, Sweden became the first country in the European Union to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian State.
In December, the European Parliament passed a compromise resolution supporting the principle of the recognition of a Palestinian state and of a two-state solution but saying it should go hand in hand with the revival of the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.