Belgium: Government parties agree to recognise Palestinian state

The parties that form the federal government of Belgium have reached an agreement to unilaterally recognise the state of Palestine, local media reports suggest.

The four main parties - the Reformist Movement, the Flemish Liberals and Democrats, the Christian-Democratic & Flemish Party and the New Flemish Alliance - now plan to submit a motion to the Belgian parliament in order to gain support for the recognition of Palestinian statehood, according to Le Soir daily.

The government intend to pass the motion and then implement the bill "at a moment deemed appropriate", as quoted from the draft text by Le Soir.

The draft bill does not set a planned date for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

The move comes after Sweden took the historic step of officially recognising the state of Palestine in October. If Belgium moves ahead with the recognition of a Palestinian state, it would become the second European country to take such action.

Denmark is set to join other European countries in voting on a symbolic resolution calling for the recognition of the state of Palestine while Britain, France and Spain have all held symbolic votes.

This week, French lawmakers called upon the government to recognise a Palestinian state with 339 votes to 151 a non-binding text urging the government "to recognise the state of Palestine in view of reaching a definitive settlement to the conflict."