143 countries supported the motion calling on the Security Council to consider Palestine’s full membership in the UN.
The motion on improving Palestine’s UN status was approved by the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Decision give Palestine some new rights, but it does not change Palestine’s observer status or give it the right to vote.
The decision, described as mostly symbolic, gives the Palestinians the right to make their own proposals to the UN General Assembly.
The UN Security Council is urged to have a “positive” attitude towards Palestinian membership.
143 countries supported the motion and nine opposed. The United States, Israel, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary and a few Pacific countries were against it.
25 countries abstained from voting, including Finland.
Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland were also arrested.
President Stubb explains Finland’s position in X
President Alexander Stubb justifies Finland’s position, and says it is based on the policy of the Finnish Foreign and Security Policy Committee and the President of the Republic (TP-UTVA).
According to Stubb, Finland aims to promote a two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state.
– When realized, UN membership must not only remain symbolic, but must be part of a jointly agreed plan that produces concrete improvements to the situation of the Palestinians and the security of the region. Unfortunately, this is not the case yet, Stubb writes.
According to the AP news agency, the United States has made it clear that it will block Palestine’s full UN membership and state status until the key issues of dispute have been resolved in direct negotiations with Israel.
These include, among others, the borders between Israel and the Palestinian state, the fate of West Bank settlements and the status of Jerusalem.
Israel condemned the decision
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that Israel’s military operations in Gaza have “driven the residents of the area to the edge of existence”.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan dismissed the result, saying that it “gives state rights to a group that is already partly controlled by terrorists”.
From the Nordic countries, Norway and Denmark supported the motion, as did many partner countries of the United States, such as France and Japan.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström justifies the country’s decision to abstain by saying that “a negotiated two-state model between Israel and Palestine is needed to achieve lasting peace.”
– This is not clearly required in the resolution, Billström says to the public broadcasting company SVT.
Sources: AP, AFP, STT