Sweeden became the first European Union country to officially recognize Palestine as a state. Hours after that Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom announced that Sweden is set to give Palestine up to 1.5 billion kronor ($200 million) in aid.
Wallstrom said in a statement on Thursday: ”There is a territory, there is also a population. There is also a government with the opportunity to exhibit internal and external control.” Wallstrom also said that Palestine fulfilled the criteria for recognition as a state in international law despite it not having fixed borders, underlying that Palestine was a similar case like the recognition of Croatia(1992) and Kosovo(2008).
Finally she added that Palestine would receive between 500 million kronor ($68 million) and 1.5 billion kronor under a five-year assistance plan.
This is a really interesting fact. The map below provides you the countries that have recognised officially the State of Palestine. And considering the huge movement for peace in Gaza in the countries that haven’t recognised Palestine yet, you can just understand how “democracy” works nowadays.
Photo Credits: Wikipedia
