(JTA) — Portugal’s parliament passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the government to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
Only nine members of the 230-member Assembly of the Republic opposed the resolution in Friday’s vote.
The resolution calls on the government to “recognize, in coordination with the European Union, the State of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state, in accordance with the principles of international law,” the Palestine News Network reported.
Rui Machete, Portugal’s foreign minister, said her government will choose “the moment best suited” to recognize a Palestinian state.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, in a statement Sunday thanked the parliament for recognizing the state of Palestine.
“This significant vote constitutes a step in the right direction for peace,” Ashrawi said, according to the Palestine News Network.
France’s Senate and Ireland’s lower house of Parliament last week approved similar nonbinding resolutions. Spain and Britain recently passed similar symbolic motions.
Sweden officially recognized Palestine in October.
