Palestine pushes for full-fledged UN membership
The State of Palestine sent a letter on Tuesday to UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres requesting renewed consideration of its membership application.
“In reference to the application of the state of Palestine for membership in the United Nations in contained document S/2011/592 dated 23 September 2011 and upon the instructions of Palestinian membership, I have the honour to request that renewed consideration be given to this application by the Security Council during April 2024,” Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said in the letter.
Mansour said he would be ‘grateful’ if Guterres would transmit the request to the Security Council ‘as soon as possible’. “It was the international community that decided to create two states in Palestine since 1947,” Mansour wrote in the letter.
“It is the duty of the international community along with the Palestinian people to complete that exercise by admitting the state of Palestine to membership.”
The State of Palestine was accepted as an observer state of the UN General Assembly in 2012, allowing its envoy to participate in debates and UN organisations but without a vote.
According to the UN Charter, states are admitted to membership in the UN by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
Spain’s support
Spain will support Palestine’s bid to become a full member state in the UN, Spanish daily El Pais reported on Wednesday.
When asked about the El Pais report ahead of a NATO meeting in Brussels, Spain’s foreign minister also hinted at the same thing.
“Spain will recognise Palestine as a sovereign state, and therefore, a sovereign state has its place among all planet’s nations and sovereign states - in the United Nations,” said Jose Manuel Albares.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez informally told journalists that Spain aims to recognise an independent Palestine before June.