UK, Canada eye Palestine recognition
Following French President Emmanuel Macron's lead, the UK and even Canada are now considering recognizing the state of "Palestine."
This announcement arrives just as we mark 50 years since the signing of the Helsinki Final Act. That agreement, signed by 35 nations including the Soviet Union and the United States in 1975, was a significant moment of détente during the Cold War and paved the way for today's Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Meanwhile, borders are shifting again. British Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has therefore announced his plan to recognize the state of Palestine following an emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza.
The recent visit of Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, to an aid distribution point in Gaza was intended to highlight the US's supposed neutrality in the conflict. In contrast, Washington considers the Canadian Prime Minister's intention to recognize the state of Palestine—coming on the heels of Macron's announcement—to be "premature and could potentially have unintended consequences." They further call it "confusing and distorting" any attempt to find a peaceful two-state solution.
Even in England, the Labour government is facing criticism, with opponents insisting that the Palestinian territories "do not currently meet" the criteria for statehood. Dozens of British MPs have warned that recognizing Palestine, under the process laid out by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, would be illegal.
Although Keir Starmer has always agreed with the principle of recognizing a Palestinian state at some point, he had been reluctant to do so until his surprise announcement this month. Starmer seems to have been influenced by several factors, including the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza, pressure from international allies like Emmanuel Macron, and increasingly vocal calls from his own MPs for immediate recognition of Palestine.
Likewise, the establishment of a rival left-wing political party in the UK, led by Jeremy Corbyn, which advocates for an independent Palestinian state, could have also pressured Keir Starmer to act quickly and rashly.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
