Palestinian PM thanks Portugal for UN rights vote, humanitarian aid

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa thanked Portugal on Monday for voting to extend Palestinian rights at the UN and for its humanitarian support, said Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel.

“The Palestinian prime minister [Mohammed Mustafa] spoke this morning with MNE @PauloRangel_pt to thank Portugal for the favourable vote at the UNGA [United Nations General Assembly], as well as all the support given to Palestine, namely humanitarian aid. He also welcomed the calls for an immediate ceasefire,” said the Portuguese minister on X.

On 10 May, with the overwhelming support of 143 countries, including Portugal, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution granting Palestine “additional rights and privileges” and calling on the Security Council to consider favourably its application for full organisation membership.

A few days later, the Foreign Minister highlighted Portugal’s “unprecedented gesture” on behalf of Palestine at the United Nations, saying that national diplomacy with other European countries played an  “important role” in the matter.

It was “an unprecedented gesture in Portuguese diplomacy” and “therefore, Portugal is clearly on the same page”, Rangel stressed at a press conference in Madrid alongside his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares.

The minister had also revealed that he had managed to persuade “at least two” EU countries to vote in favour of the draft resolution presented by the UAE on behalf of the group of Arab countries.

Regarding the possibility and timing of Portugal recognising the Palestinian state – a step that at least four European countries, including Spain, are preparing to take – he said it is not on the cards for now.

“In the Portuguese case, what we considered appropriate at the moment was to vote in favour without any restrictions or conditions, but not to move towards formal recognition [of the State of Palestine],” he added.

(Joana Haderer – edited by Pedro Sousa Carvalho | Lusa.pt)