MOSCOW, October 3 (RIA Novosti) – Two-state solution is needed to resolve the Palestinian conflict, Sweden's new Prime Minister Stefan Loefven said Friday as quoted by Reuters, adding that Sweden may become the first EU member to recognize the state of Palestine.
"The conflict between Israel can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law," Loefven said addressing parliament, as cited by the news agency.
"A two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful co-existence. Sweden will therefore recognize the state of Palestine," the prime minister stressed.
Palestinians want the creation of an independent state on the territories of the West Bank in East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and want Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the 1967 war.
In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly upgraded Palestine from an "observer entity" to a "non-member observer state" and affirmed the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.
Some EU member states, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, have already recognized the state of Palestine but they made the move before joining the union.
