ATHENS, December 21, 2015
(WAFA) – Greece is set to recognize an independent state of Palestine in a
parliamentary vote, which will be attended by President Mahmoud Abbas on
Tuesday, said an official source at the Greek government.
A solemn ceremony will
accompany the vote as Greece joins other European countries that recognized
Palestine in recent months, the source added.
Abbas arrived in Athens on
Sunday ahead of the vote, where he is set to meet with President Prokopis
Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras today, on Monday.
Last week, the Greek
parliament's foreign affairs committee unanimously approved a motion to
recognize the state of Palestine.
During the past months, other
European legislatures, including those of the UK, France, Spain, Ireland,
Belgium and Portugal, have recognized the Palestinian state. In December 2014,
the European Parliament also overwhelmingly backed the recognition of a
Palestinian state “in principle.”
In June 2015, Athens announced
that its officials would begin using the term “Palestine.”
“We decided to issue
instructions throughout the Greek public administration for the uniform use of
the term ‘Palestine’ when we refer to our friendly country,” Foreign Minister
Nikos Kotzias said then.
Palestine’s flag was hoisted
for the first time at the UN headquarters in New York on September 30. Abbas
then took to the podium there to call for the universal recognition of the
state of Palestine.
M.N./T.R.
