Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine

On Wednesday, it became known that the Vatican officially recognized the non-existent state of Palestine, as reported by 13 in May, The Associated Press news agency.

Under the agreement, which will be signed later, the Holy See will maintain diplomatic relations not with the PLO, as it was before, but with the Palestinian Authority.

In 2012, the Vatican approved the decision UN General Assembly which recognized the state of Palestine, but only today a formal document regulating relations between the Palestinians and the Holy See was made public.

The bilateral Vatican-Palestinian Commission has completed work on the text of an agreement on the activities of the Roman Catholic Church in Palestine, writes tass.

As the head of the press service of the Holy See, Father Federico Lombardi, explained at the end of the plenary meeting of the technical working group of the parties, thus the Vatican “de facto” recognizes the existence of the State of Palestine.

“Yes, this is a recognition that the state exists,” Lombardi confirmed. According to him, “the commission completed its work.” “The text of the agreement will be transmitted to the leaders of the Vatican and Palestine for signing in the near future,” he said.

At the same time, Lombardi explained that the commission acts on the basis of a framework agreement signed between the states in 2000. The text of the new agreement provides the basic conditions for cooperation between the Vatican and Palestine, taking into account the wish to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the principle of the existence of two states.

PNA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Pope Francis this Saturday, 16 May.

The representative of the Israeli Foreign Ministry commented on this decision, saying that this step of the Holy See is disappointing, does not contribute to the peace process and will not bring the Palestinians to the negotiating table. He stressed that Israel will consider this fact and take appropriate measures.

Recall that by now the state of Palestine has recognized the government Sweden, as well as the parliaments of Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Obama administration threatens Israel by not vetoing the relevant resolution in the UN Security Council.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Berlin opposes the unilateral recognition of the state of Palestine, although it supports a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the principle of two states for two peoples.