Parliament voted – Slovenia recognizes Palestine as a state

The conservative opposition boycotted the vote. What happened in parliament was accompanied by delaying maneuvers by the opposition. Just last week, Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognized an independent Palestinian state.

Although it was initially said that the referendum request from the right-wing conservative SDS would delay the vote by at least a month, the coalition parties found a solution to bypass the blockade before the plenary session in Ljubljana, according to media reports.

Parliament met in the afternoon to debate the government’s decision to recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state. After the main opposition party submitted the request for a referendum on the issue on Monday, it said it would be discussed on Tuesday but not voted on. The vote should be postponed for at least a month. Postponing the vote is not an acceptable option for the governing coalition, the Delo daily reports.

In the morning, the parties looked for a solution that would make a vote possible on Tuesday evening. It was originally said that Parliament would have to decide on the referendum proposal before voting on Palestine. However, there are reportedly other interpretations of parliamentary procedure.

Recognition causes a stir in the EU election campaign
The recognition of Palestine now affects the EU election campaign in Slovenia. The conservative opposition accuses the coalition parties of exploiting the issue for electoral purposes. However, the coalition criticizes the right-wing conservative SDS for allowing itself to be influenced by Israel. The party of former Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, who is considered a supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, considers the recognition of Palestine on this point premature and warns of long-term damage to Slovenia. The SDS criticizes the fact that the government is rushing to gain recognition in order to score points in the European elections.

“The government’s proposal to recognize Palestine ten days before the elections is a reprehensible exploitation of dead Palestinian children for political purposes,” Janša wrote last week on the to acknowledge. With its referendum request, the SDS now gives the government extra time to think about the matter thoroughly and with a cool head, the opposition leader now argued.

Heated debate between the EU’s top candidates
The recognition of Palestine was also heatedly discussed in the televised debate between the EU’s top candidates on Monday evening. In the sharp discussion on the private broadcaster POP TV, the alleged Israeli influence on the SDS was also emphasized. Liberal MEP Klemen Grošelj and his Social Democratic parliamentary colleague Matjaž Nemec spoke about Israeli interference in Slovenian domestic politics. They referred to statements by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz about X.

Katz had criticized the Slovenian government’s decision as a reward for the terrorist organization Hamas, emphasizing, among other things, that it damaged the “close friendship” between the Slovenian and Israeli people. “I hope the Slovenian parliament rejects this recommendation,” Katz wrote, adding Janša’s X username. “The Israeli Foreign Minister has thus influenced Slovenia’s domestic policy actions. Mr Janša acted as instructed by his Israeli colleagues,” Nemec said in the TV debate.

Slovenian people inclined towards recognition
Some political observers are also of the opinion that the government, partly because of the European elections, has accelerated the recognition procedure in order to mobilize its own voters. She was originally scheduled to make a decision by June 13. It cannot be ruled out that the SDS’ delaying maneuver will further motivate liberal and left-wing voters. According to surveys, the majority of public opinion in Slovenia is in favor of the recognition of Palestine. As pollster Andraž Zorko emphasized on the news portal ‘Necenzurirano’, Palestine is an important issue for the left-wing political camp. “What the migrants are to the right-wing camp, Palestine is to the left-wing camp,” he said.