Portugal has announced that it will officially recognise the State of Palestine, joining countries including Australia, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom in taking the step.
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a statement on Friday that the recognition will take place on Sunday, a day before a high-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) conference on Palestinian statehood.
“The Official Declaration of Recognition will take place on Sunday, September 21st, before next week’s High-Level Conference,” the ministry said.
According to Portugal’s Correio da Manha newspaper, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, a centre-right leader, consulted with the president and parliament before finalising the decision.
The announcement concludes nearly 15 years of parliamentary debate, since the proposal was first introduced by the Left Bloc political party in 2011.
The move follows a recent UN inquiry that found Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide. Since October 2023, at least 65,141 people have been killed and 165,925 wounded, with many more feared buried under the rubble.
Portugal had initially announced its intentions in July, citing the “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict,” the humanitarian crisis, and Israel’s repeated threats to annex Palestinian land.
Earlier on Friday, a French presidential adviser confirmed that Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, and San Marino also plan to recognise Palestine alongside France at the high-level UN meeting co-organised with Saudi Arabia.
Canada and the United Kingdom have similarly announced intentions to do so. These countries will join around 147 nations—representing 75 percent of UN members—that had already recognised Palestinian statehood as of April.
Portugal was also among 145 countries that voted on Friday to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address the UNGA in New York via video after the United States denied him a visa. Nauru, Palau, Paraguay, Israel, and the US voted against, while six countries abstained.
Israel and the United States have strongly criticised countries recognising Palestine. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called France’s announcement “reckless,” claiming it “only serves Hamas propaganda.”
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned last year that new illegal settlements would be established in the occupied West Bank for every country recognising Palestine.
