Premier Mustafa reiterates call for France to recognize State of Palestine

RAMALLAH: Premier Mohammad Mustafa Friday afternoon reiterated his call for France to recognize the State of Palestine. During a phone exchange with the French minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné, Premier Mustafa, who also serves as Palestine's Foreign Affairs Minister, reiterated the call for France to recognize the State of Palestine bilaterally parallel to the continued efforts to admit Palestine as a full member in the United Nations. He expressed his deep gratitude and that of President Abbas, the Palestinian government and the people for the principled stand of France demonstrated in its vote Thursday at the UN Security Council. By voting in favour of Palestine's request for full membership in the UN, France has demonstrated its commitment to the two-state solution and to delivering the long-overdue justice to the Palestinian People, Premier Mustafa stated. He reiterated that it is high time for Palestine to take its rightful place among nations of the world as a full member State of the UN. The two officials discussed the importance of further strengthening the bilateral relations, and emphasized the importance of the donors' meeting, scheduled to be held in Brussels next month, and the need to increase donor countries' contributions to the Palestinian government due to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They also agreed to continue coordination of stances in the various international fora. Mustafa reaffirmed that Palestine will relentlessly and unwaveringly continue its pursuit of the inalienable rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people by the solidification of its sovereign state, with its East Jerusalem as its capital. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA