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Today, the National Assembly, in a special session, supported the government’s decision to recognize Palestine as an independent sovereign state. 52 of the 53 MPs present voted in favor of recognition, with none against. The opposition blocked the special session of the Democratic Zone. Slovenia thus became the 147th UN member state to recognize Palestine.
The alliance presented the argument for recognition at the conference. As stressed by MPs and Prime Minister Robert Golob, recognition would, among other things, bring new impetus to the Middle East peace negotiations, strengthen moderate forces on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, would also undo the historical injustices inflicted on the Palestinians, and encourage the continuation of reforms of the Palestinian Authority.
Explaining the proposal, Prime Minister Robert Golob said the recognition of the proposal’s intention was not a coincidence or a matter of “pre-election arithmetic”.
Prime Minister 🇸🇮 Dr. Robert Golob: With today’s recognition of Palestine 🇵🇸 as a sovereign, independent state, we are giving hope to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
— Government of the Republic of Slovenia (@vladaRS) June 4, 2024
At the start of the debate, the opposition NSi party assessed that the recognition of Palestine was an electoral move by the government coalition ahead of the European elections, but announced that it would not oppose it.
But then things got complicated because just before the meeting began, the SDS withdrew the proposal for a consultative referendum on the recognition of Palestine that it had submitted on Monday. During the meeting, the party submitted a new consultative referendum proposal and the party’s MPs walked out.
Due to the new proposal, the DZ meeting was interrupted and the Parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee convened to hold a consultative referendum on the SDS proposal. Subsequently, a special meeting of the Democratic Zone was held, and all 52 representatives present rejected the proposal to hold a consultative referendum.
SDS Chairman Janez Jansa said that by proposing a consultative referendum on the recognition of Palestine, they are giving the government time to think. “The proposal for a consultative referendum is an act to postpone the decision for 30 days,” he said of the coalition’s alleged intention to hold a vote in the DZ.
The Chairperson of the Democratic Council, Urska Krakočar Zupančić, stressed that no country in the world has held a referendum on the recognition of another state, which is a political act. She also announced that she would not allow the abuse of the rules of procedure, which she considered a move by the SDS.
The country’s president, Natasha Pielke Mussar, reacted to the recognition of Palestine:
I am glad that the Republic of Slovenia has recognized Palestine as an independent State and will therefore be able to more reliably help the Palestinian nation on the difficult path to true independence and equality in the international community in the future. pic.twitter.com/FF0fmqK0ss
— Natasha Pielke Musar (@nmusar) June 4, 2024
Representatives of the two opposition parties, SDS and NSi, prevented the meeting from continuing. The latter MP Aleksander Reberšek explained in his introduction that the ruling coalition was abusing the rules of procedure and that they would not participate.
Later, the MPs resumed the suspended Democratic Zone meeting on the recognition of Palestine and supported the recognition of Palestine. 52 of the 53 MPs present voted in favor of recognition, with none against. SDS MP Dejan Kaloh did not vote.
Response from Foreign Minister Tanya Farhun:
🇸🇮An important step was taken today and I am happy to be part of this story. I am proud that the Government and Parliament of the Republic of Slovenia made a historic decision and recognized the State of Palestine, we are proving that a small country can make big moves, we chose humanity and tomorrow we will continue to work for peace in BV. pic.twitter.com/tbFN1UNN3K
— Tanya Fajon (@tfajon) June 4, 2024
Slovenia thus became the 147th UN member state to recognize Palestine, which recognized Slovenia in 1992.
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