Middle East|Pekka Haavisto urges Finland to apply for recognition when considering a group of like-minded countries.
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Member of Parliament Pekka Haavisto (vihr) says it has changed its mind about recognizing the Palestinian state.
According to Haavisto, recognition could be justified because it would strengthen Palestine’s legal status.
“The situation has pretty much changed due to Israel’s actions in Gaza. I have been thinking about Palestine’s possibility to defend its own citizens in, for example, the ICJ [Kansainvälinen tuomioistuin] and in the ICC [Kansainvälinen rikostuomioistuin]”, Haavisto says.
“Previously, my position was that it is important that the country’s borders are established and that the country has a functioning administration. These conditions are not met, but the Palestinians are now very much at a disadvantage when they cannot defend themselves in international bodies,” says Haavisto.
Foreign minister Elina Valtonen (cook) said In an interview with HS on Friday, that Finland follows the international discussion related to the recognition of Palestine, but is not ready to recognize Palestine now.
The pressure grew last week when three European countries, namely Norway, Ireland and Spain, decided to recognize the Palestinian state. This is now happening on Tuesday. Sweden already recognized Palestine in 2014.
The motive of the three European countries to recognize Palestine right now is that they want to put pressure on the progress of the peace process.
The Danish parliament will vote on the recognition of Palestine on Tuesday. However, the country’s government does not support recognition, and because of that, there is no majority behind the decision in the parliament.
Among European countries, Palestine has been recognized by Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Sweden and Cyprus.
Sweden’s recognition weakened the country’s relations with Israel for a long time. According to Haavisto, Finland has always had good and functioning relations with Israel, and based on the acquisitions of the Finnish air defense, the approach is “realpolitik” according to Haavisto: Finland buys weapons based on where it gets the best technology. Haavisto supports continuing contact with Israel.
Haavisto says that it would be worthwhile to apply for a group of like-minded countries from other EU members in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In his opinion, recognition would be given even more weight if a group of countries did it at the same time.
“The same thinking is going on in many countries,” says Haavisto.
In an interview with HS, Elina Valtonen emphasized that Finland has supported the two-state model for a long time, which, according to her, includes the recognition of Palestine as a matter of course. However, according to Valtonen, this can only be done once, and therefore the right time must be considered carefully.
Haavisto says that he has met people who have participated in the negotiations between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel so far.
“The most difficult thing in the peace process is basic trust and its absence. Confidence-building measures would include the release of hostages and a possible cease-fire. Apparently, the atmosphere is such that neither side believes that they are enough to end the war.”
Also opposition representatives other than Haavisto have expressed their support for the recognition of Palestine. Lee Anderssonthe chairman of the left-wing union and candidate for the European elections, considers recognition in the message service X “the only realistic solution for the real resolution of the conflict”.
Sdp MP Nasima Razmyarin thinks that Finland should recognize Palestine, because in his opinion a “democratic Palestinian state” would be the right step in terms of the long-term conflict in the Middle East.
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