Sawt Falasteen - Portugal PM says not ready to recognise a Palestinian state

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has visited several nations in recent days to try to drum up support for the move, repeated his plan to recognise Palestinian statehood in the coming months, either together with other nations or alone.

But Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, who took office in March, said his government would wait for the European Union and the United Nations to work out a common position on the issue before advancing.

"We don't go as far as other governments do with regard to recognising the state of Palestine," he told a joint news conference in Madrid as he stood alongside Sanchez.

"We believe that this understanding should be built on a multilateral basis within the European Union and the United Nations."

Both leaders condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel over the weekend and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

"The events of this weekend reaffirm what we have been advocating for months now," Sanchez said.

"Two paths open up before us. One leads to an escalation of war that could lead us to the abyss, and the other involves demanding a ceasefire from all parties to then immediately launch a peace process," he added.

On March 22, Spain issued a statement with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia on the sidelines of an EU leaders summit, saying they were "ready to recognise Palestine" in a move that would happen when "the circumstances are right".

During his visit to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar earlier this month, Sanchez said Madrid could on its own officially recognise the state of Palestine by the end of June this year.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST