Portugal's parliament today adopted a resolution calling on the government to recognise the Palestinian state, following a growing number of similar votes around Europe.
Parliament's motion, filed jointly by the ruling centre-right majority and the opposition Socialist party, proposed "recognising, in coordination with the European Union, the state of Palestine as independent and sovereign".
However, Portugal's Foreign Minister Rui Machete said after the vote the government "will choose the moment best suited" to recognise the Palestinian state.
But he said the government was "sensitive to parliament's call," that "Israelis and Palestinians live together on a long-term basis in a peaceful way."
Portuguese lawmakers who backed the measure believe "only talks can guarantee security and peace in the region."
Initiatives like Portugal's form part of a trend in Europe towards recognition, until recently seen as the goal of negotiations, but now seen as a means of exerting pressure on Israel to relaunch the moribund peace process.
France's upper house voted Thursday to urge its government to recognise Palestine, which came hard on the heels of an similar motion in the Irish parliament on Wednesday.
Lawmakers in Britain and Spain have already passed their own motions and Sweden has gone even further, officially recognising Palestine as a state, in a move that prompted a furious Israel to recall its ambassador.
