Egypt hails Slovenia for recognizing state of Palestine

CAIRO – 5 June 2024: Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ahmed Abou Zeid tweeted Wednesday commending Slovenia for recognizing the state of Palestine as the decision harnessed 52 votes at the 90-seat parliament on Tuesday.

The most recent recognition by EU members is the one made by Spain, Norway, and Ireland in May, joining Sweden, Cyprus, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. As such, the total is upped to 12 out of 25 EU members.

It is noted that over 140 countries – almost two thirds of the United Nations' 193 member states - recognize Palestine, which has been a non-member observer state since 2012. To be full member, it has to be admitted by the UN security council.

A vote on full UN membership of Palestine was carried out at the Security Council on April 18, and the outcome was 12 in support, abstention by the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and a veto by the United States.