It was "an unprecedented gesture in Portuguese diplomacy" and "therefore, Portugal is clearly in this line", Paulo Rangel stressed today, at a press conference in Madrid, alongside his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, with whom he met this Tuesday.

Rangel highlighted that "it was a vote in favor, without any condition" and, regarding the possibility and timing of Portugal recognizing the Palestinian State, he reiterated that the Portuguese Government is still "in consultations".

"In the Portuguese case, what we considered appropriate at this time was to cast this vote in favor without any restriction, conditioning, but not to move forward with the formal recognition [of the State of Palestine]", he added.

The minister argued that "each State has its own vocation and its own way of looking at this issue" and stated that Portugal is "playing an important role" with the countries of the European Union (EU) "that were more reluctant" to vote favorably in the UN General Assembly or regarding the principle itself of recognizing the Palestinian State.

"We considered that the position we took was the right position. It is the right position to bring some more hesitant, doubtful, reluctant States to the side that can most lead to the two-state solution" in the Middle East (Israel and Palestine), said Rangel.

The Portuguese minister thus responded to questions from journalists about the reasons why Portugal is not moving forward, as Spain has already announced it intends to do soon, to the formal recognition of the State of Palestine, taking into account the vote in the UN General Assembly.

Rangel said again that "there is a very broad consensus between Portugal and Spain" on this issue.

In this context, he said that the two countries coincide in defending an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, in the request for the immediate release of the Israeli hostages who are in the hands of the Islamist group Hamas and in the request for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, where "a catastrophe" is taking place.

Rangel said that, like Spain, Portugal considers that "the two-state solution is absolutely fundamental" for peace in the Middle East and that, although "for tragic reasons", there is currently "a unique opportunity" to resume it.

"This two-state solution is something we deeply agree on", said Paulo Rangel.

It should be recalled that, on Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs refused to call what is happening in Gaza a genocide, considering that it would be "unfair" to say that Israel intends to eliminate the Palestinian people, but highlights the existence of a humanitarian catastrophe.

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