Slovenia soon will recognize Palestinian state

Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec informed Israeli Ambassador Eyal Sela that his country is planning to recognize a Palestinian state, Channel 10 news reported Tuesday.

Erjavec said he expects the motion to garner a solid majority in Ljubljana's parliament, whose foreign affairs and defense committee is scheduled to debate the motion on Wednesday.

A final vote on the issue will take place in February, the report said.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Friday expressed his objection to parliament's intent to recognize a Palestinian state, saying such a move should be pursued only when it proves conducive to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"This is not the case right now. Unilateral steps will do little to improve the situation and may even deepen the distrust between the parties," he said.

An Israeli official insulted the decision saying that, Pahor's position was mostly symbolic.

During a trip to Brussels last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged European Union member states to recognize a Palestinian state as a way to force progress in the peace talks, frozen since 2014.

"The EU is our natural partner and one of our most important economic partners. We appreciate the EU's position, but ask its members to recognize a Palestinian state," Abbas said.

The London-based Arabic newspaper Al Hayat reported that EU nations were unlikely to agree to the request, which is seen as counterproductive to the peace process.