Portugal to Formally Recognise Palestinian State at UNGA Amidst Growing International Momentum
NEW YORK – Portugal will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) next week, joining a wave of nations shifting their positions on the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict. The decision, confirmed by a Friday vote where Portugal was among 145 countries supporting a resolution enabling Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the UNGA via video link following a US visa denial, underscores increasing international pressure for a two-state solution.
Five countries – nauru, palau, Paraguay, Israel, and the United States – voted against the resolution allowing Abbas’s address, with six abstaining.
Portugal’s move aligns with recent announcements from Canada and the United Kingdom, both of which have indicated their intention to recognize Palestinian statehood. France will also recognize the State of Palestine at a high-level meeting it is co-organizing with Saudi arabia in New York on Monday.
These nations will add to the 147 countries, representing 75 percent of UN members, that had already recognized Palestinian statehood as of April 2025.
The growing recognition comes despite strong criticism from the US and Israel. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described france’s proclamation as a “reckless decision” that “only serves Hamas propaganda.” Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned last year that a new Israeli settlement would be established in the occupied west Bank for every country that recognizes Palestine.
luxembourg is also considering recognizing Palestinian statehood and potentially imposing sanctions against Israel, according to prime Minister Luc Frieden and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has called for broader measures, including sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel, to end the war in Gaza.
The move towards recognition echoes the UNGA’s 1947 plan to partition Palestine, which proposed allocating 45 percent of the land to an Arab state. Though, at that time, the UNGA consisted of only 57 member states, with many countries still under colonial rule and unable to participate in the vote.
