Headlines
Portugal to recognize a Palestinian state, government says
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Portugal will recognize a Palestinian state this Sunday, ahead of a High-Level Conference. This decision marks a cautious approach compared to other EU nations.
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.
The Official Declaration of Recognition will take place even before next week's High-Level Conference, it added.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel already said this week that the country was considering the recognisition of a Palestinian state during a visit to the UK.
Unlike neighbouring Spain, whose leftist government recognised Palestinian statehood in May 2024 alongside Ireland and Norway and called on other EU countries to do the same, Portugal has taken a more cautious approach, saying it wanted to work out a common position with other EU countries first.
Only a handful of the 27 European Union members recognise Palestine as a State, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.
The U.N. General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine in November 2012 by upgrading its observer status at the world body to "non-member state" from "entity".
Israel is facing a growing global outcry, given that its war against Hamas in Gaza is causing many deaths, starvation and devastation.
(Reporting by Sergio Gonçalves and Ana Cantero)
Portugal will recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, as stated by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel mentioned that Portugal was considering the recognition of a Palestinian state during a recent visit to the UK.
Unlike Spain, which recognized Palestinian statehood in May 2024, Portugal has taken a more cautious approach regarding recognition.
Only a handful of the 27 EU members recognize Palestine as a state, primarily former Communist countries, Sweden, and Cyprus.
In November 2012, the UN General Assembly approved the de facto recognition of Palestine by upgrading its observer status to 'non-member state'.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
