Slovenia becomes latest European nation to recognize Palestinian state
Slovenian parliament approves recognition week after Spain, Ireland and Norway did so; opposition leader says move ’causes long-term damage to Slovenia by supporting Hamas’
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — The Slovenian parliament on Tuesday passed a decree recognizing a Palestinian state, following last week’s recognition by three other European states.
With the move in response to the devastating Gaza war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught against Israel, Slovenia becomes the latest European country to do so, pushing ahead with a vote in defiance of an opposition motion to derail it.
Fifty-two members of the 90-member parliament voted in favor of the government-sponsored decree to recognize a Palestinian state after a chaotic six-hour parliament session.
“Today’s recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state sends hope to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and in Gaza,” Prime Minister Robert Golob wrote on the government’s account on X after the vote as the Palestinian flag was raised in front of parliament.
The opposition boycotted the vote except for one lawmaker who attended but abstained.
Slovenia’s center-left government sent the decree on recognizing a Palestinian state for parliamentary approval last Thursday as part of efforts to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible.
The conservative opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by former prime minister Janez Jansa on Monday then filed a proposal to hold an advisory referendum on the recognition.
It said Slovenia should remain with the majority of EU states that have decided now is not the right time for such a move.
The government’s recognition “causes long-term damage to Slovenia by supporting the terrorist organization Hamas,” SDS said.
The party had expected to delay the vote since the legislation sets a 30-day deadline before lawmakers can vote on a disputed bill.
At Tuesday’s session, 52 lawmakers rejected the opposition motion for a referendum on the issue.
Parliamentary speaker Urska Klakocar Zupancic said the opposition had “abused the referendum mechanism” and announced parliament would proceed with the vote as planned.
She quoted legal interpretations, according to which the 30-day deadline referred only to bills rather than to decrees such as one recognizing a foreign state.
Jansa accused the government of “taking decisions that go against the procedure and procedure is the foundation of the rule of law.”
Israel anger
Spain, Ireland and Norway recognized a Palestinian state last week, which brought to 145 the number of the United Nations’ 193 member states that have done so, according to the Palestinian authorities.
With the decree, Slovenia recognizes a Palestinian state within the territories set by a 1967 UN resolution or according to any future peace agreement reached by both parties.
Almost 60 percent of Slovenians back the recognition of a Palestine state while 20 percent oppose it, according to an April poll of 600 people published by the Dnevnik daily.
Last week, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he hoped Slovenian lawmakers would reject recognizing a Palestinian state, saying a yes vote would be a “reward” to Hamas for its October 7 atrocities in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says over 36,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though only some 24,000 fatalities have been identified at hospitals. The toll, which cannot be verified, includes some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Two hundred and ninety-four soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and amid operations along the Gaza border. A civilian Defense Ministry contractor has also been killed in the Strip.
