Simon Harris says recognition of Palestine is 'coming close'

Taoiseach said several European countries have communicated they will support the recognition of Palestine

Taoiseach Simon Harris says the recognition of Palestine is 'coming close'. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/ RollingNews.ie

More European countries will join Ireland in recognising a Palestinian state, the Taoiseach believes.

Speaking at his first European Council meeting in Brussels since taking up the role, Simon Harris said that he had spoken with other European leaders and believes that the moment of Palestinian recognition "is coming close".

He declined to identify who those nations are — saying he would not be providing a "running list" — but said that he had spoken to a number of counterparts from across Europe and had reiterated Ireland's view that recognition of the Palestinian state would build "momentum".

"If you believe in a two-state solution, it's useful to recognise the existence of both states and Ireland believes that the time of recognition is coming closer," Mr Harris said.

"I do believe there's a number of member states in the European Union who do wish to recognise the state of Palestine. It's not for me to speak for them, but certainly I think they share our perspective that you would do that to try and create momentum towards the recognition of a two-state solution. I certainly articulated last night our concern that the two-state solution is being de-prioritised in a lot of the discourse and it's very important, very important that the European Union gets back to placing it front and centre.

"I do think the moment of recognition is getting close and I do think there are countries who would like to do it at the same time as Spain and Ireland and I think the indications are positive in that regard."

Iran

Mr Harris said that the Council, made up of the leaders of the EU's 27 member states, had made "very clear conclusions" that the European Union will put in place further restrictive measures on Iran in response to its missile attack on Israel last week. He said that those restrictive measures will be considered by the Foreign Affairs Council this weekend.

"When it came to the Middle East, we took the opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire. I welcome language that is being used — ceasefire and not a pause — but I think that is an important point. I also made the point that we don't just need to see an increase in humanitarian aid, but also unhindered access for the humanitarian aid, and that is very clear direction from the ICJ that Israel must comply with."

On Ireland's neutrality, Mr Harris said that he expects changes to the triple lock system for deploying Irish troops to be made in the lifetime of this government, but rejected the idea that this would be a de facto scrapping of neutrality.

"This is not a move away from military neutrality in any way," he said.