Europe Divided Ahead of U.N. Palestinian Vote
Europe Divided Ahead of U.N. Palestinian Vote
Spain has followed France in announcing it will support a Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations when the issue goes to a vote of the General Assembly.
Within hours, however, Britain indicated on Wednesday that it would abstain unless the Palestinians met its conditions for a “yes” vote.
After the announcements from Paris and Madrid, the Palestinians could have been forgiven for spotting an emerging consensus among the Europeans in favor of its bid on Thursday to achieve recognition as a non-member observer state.
But Britain’s likely abstention served to underline the continuing divisions within Europe, some tactical and others fundamental, over how to advance the Mideast peace process. European governments remain almost equally divided over how to address the issue of upgrading Palestine’s status. The United States has made it clear it will veto the proposal.