Switzerland's Parliament Votes Against Recognizing Palestinian Independence

Members of the Swiss National Council have voted against a resolution to recognize the State of Palestine. The press service of the Swiss parliament reported that 61 members voted in favor of recognizing Palestinian independence, while 131 voted against.

“The National Council does not wish to recognize the independence of Palestine. The parliament on Tuesday rejected the relevant initiative presented by Fabian Molina, a representative from the Social Democratic Party of Zurich,” the statement said.

Molina had proposed to approve a draft resolution stating that “the National Council recognizes Palestine as an independent state based on the 1967 borders, provided that the hostages abducted by the Palestinian Hamas radical group are released on October 7, 2023.”

In his speech, he reminded that recently, Ireland, Spain, and Norway announced their recognition of Palestine as a state. The member expressed the view that recognizing Palestine “would help promote peace and stability in the region and contribute to a fair and long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

During the parliamentary discussion, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis spoke against the adoption of the proposed resolution. He clarified that Bern supports issue resolution based on the two-state principle in the Middle East. The Swiss minister noted that given the ongoing war in Gaza, the time for recognizing Palestine as a state has not yet come.

Additionally, Cassis reminded that according to the Swiss Constitution, the Federal Council (the government) is responsible for international relations, not the parliament. This also pertains to the recognition of states. The Foreign Minister added that if the parliament were to declare recognition of Palestinian independence, it would mean a “violation of power distribution.” As a result, only members from the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party supported the draft resolution on recognizing Palestine.

On May 22, three European countries—Spain, Norway, and Ireland—officially declared recognition of Palestinian independence. This decision took effect on May 28. A few days later, Slovenia also joined these European countries. In contrast, Denmark refused to recognize Palestinian independence.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated that the sole purpose of this step is to “help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace.” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide also reminded that Norway has been one of the