Luís Montenegro. Credit: Alexandros Michailidis, Shutterstock
Portugal may join the growing list of Western countries recognising Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced on July 31.
Montenegro said in a statement that the government had decided “to promote consultations with the president and the political parties represented in parliament with a view to consider the recognition of the Palestinian state” as part of a process that “could be concluded…at the UN General Assembly in September” (Cited by Euronews).
The proposal puts Portugal closer to countries like Spain, Ireland, and Norway, which recognised Palestinian statehood in 2024.
France, the UK, Canada, and Malta have all announced plans to recognise Palestine this autumn, though with some conditions attached. French President Emmanuel Macron has already stated his intention to back recognition at the UN in September.
Out of the UN’s 193 member states, 144 already recognise Palestine, largely from the Global South. Within the EU, however, only a handful of mostly Eastern European countries, including Romania and Bulgaria, have followed suit.
This wave of announcements follows widespread international criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages taken.
Since then, over 60,000 people in Gaza have reportedly died or gone missing, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. While these figures remain unverified, images of emaciated children and destroyed infrastructure have fuelled public outrage in Europe and beyond.
Israel has rejected all unilateral recognitions of Palestine, arguing they reward terrorism and weaken efforts to free the remaining hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza. Its military claims it has killed over 20,000 Hamas combatants and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught. It is said to have lost 459 soldiers. (As reported by The Times of Israel.)
EU divisions deepen
Portugal’s announcement came as Sweden urged the EU to freeze its trade pact with Israel, citing “absolutely appalling” humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson posted on X: “The situation in Gaza is absolutely appalling, and Israel is failing to fulfil its most basic obligations and agreements on emergency aid.
Sweden therefore demands that the EU freeze the trade section of the association agreement as soon as possible.”
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which frames political and trade relations, could now be under pressure, especially with the Netherlands also backing suspension of its trade section if Israel continues to violate humanitarian obligations.
An EU internal report, presented in June, reportedly warned that Israel might be falling short of its human rights obligations under the agreement.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, “A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security, and dignity.
For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of that process. But such a process must begin now.” (Cited by Times of Israel.)
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