MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – France is to vote on the recognition of the Palestinian state on November 28, International Business Times reported Wednesday.
French parliamentarians will vote on a resolution which calls "on the French government to recognize the Palestinian state as an instrument to achieve a final settlement of the conflict," International Business Times reported quoting the draft.
The motion proposed by the Socialist Party comes after Sweden officially recognized the state of Palestine on October 30 becoming the first EU country to do so. Both Israel and the United States have criticized the move. Prior to that, the UK parliament also held a symbolic vote that recognized the Palestinian state.
Palestinians seek the creation of an independent state on the territories of the West Bank in East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, as well as on the Gaza Strip territory controlled by Hamas militants. Palestine has designated Jerusalem as its capital and calls on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the 1967 war.
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly upgraded Palestine from an "observer entity" to a "non-member observer state" and affirmed the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.
The Palestinian State has been recognized by 135 UN member states as of October 30.
