New Zealand to consider recognising Palestinian state
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
New Zealand said the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is rightly at the forefront of the global agenda.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WELLINGTON – The New Zealand government said it is considering recognition of a state of Palestine, with a formal decision to be taken in September.
“New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement on Aug 11 in Wellington.
“The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is rightly at the forefront of the global agenda.”
If it proceeds, New Zealand would be following several of its western peers, including Britain, France and Canada, who plan to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations summit in September.
Australia on Aug 11 also said it would do so
“Some of New Zealand’s close partners have opted to recognise a Palestinian state, and some have not,” Mr Peters said.
“Ultimately, New Zealand has an independent foreign policy, and on this issue, we intend to weigh up the issue carefully and then act according to New Zealand’s principles, values and national interest.”
It was not a straightforward, clear-cut issue, Mr Peters said, with “a broad range of strongly held views” within government.
The Cabinet will make a formal decision in September and Mr Peters will “present the government’s approach to this issue” at the UN in late September, he said. BLOOMBERG
