Fourteen Western nations have joined France's call on countries worldwide to recognize an independent Palestinian state, Paris' top diplomat said Wednesday.
The foreign ministers of the 15 countries late Tuesday issued a joint statement following a conference in New York, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving a two-state solution between Israelis and the Palestinians.
"In New York, together with 14 other countries, France is issuing a collective appeal: we express our desire to recognise the State of Palestine and invite those who have not yet done so to join us," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.
"We, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Andorra, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, and Spain, reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution," the French Foreign Ministry had said late Tuesday.
According to the statement, the signatories underlined that two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, must coexist peacefully within secure and internationally recognized borders, in line with international law and relevant U.N. resolutions.
