Norway, Ireland and Spain have recognized the Palestinian Territories as a state. And 143 UN members approved the Palestinian request for full UN membership. What does this mean?
Recognition of a state by others has a "declarative nature" in the sense of international law, explains legal expert Pierre Tilbörger to German public broadcaster ARD. The reason for the conversation with him is the decision of several European countries to recognize Palestine as a state. This in itself does not necessarily mean that the territory will be officially declared a state. It is important that the potential state has a clearly defined population, territory and functions as a state. However, it is not clear who decides whether the potential country meets the criteria, the expert explains.
Recognition by other states and their willingness to establish diplomatic relations are at least indicative of how they respond to the question of statehood. Recognition is of great importance politically, but not so much within the framework of international law, says Pierre Tilbørger.
Population, territory, statehood
As for the Palestinian territories, the population issue is not problematic, says Tilbørger. However, the question of territory is more complicated because there is no clear consensus on which parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would fall within the territory of the potential state. However, this is not necessarily decisive, because the ambiguities do not deny the existence of a common national territory of the Palestinian people.
The most problematic issue is that of the effective management of the potential state - the Palestinian Authority does not function in the Gaza Strip, which is why there are doubts that it can effectively play the role of a state structure before international law. There are also problems in the West Bank, as the Israeli authorities have partial control there and this could prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state apparatus.
However, it is clear that this is not a problem for many of the countries that believe that the Palestinian state system is stable enough for the formation of a state, the international law expert explains to ARD.
He recalls that Palestine has already been explicitly recognized as a state by Ireland, Norway and Spain. But just a few weeks ago, on May 10, 143 out of 193 countries in the UN General Assembly approved the Palestinian request for full UN membership, meaning that many countries now recognize Palestine as an independent state. This trend, which we have been observing for a long time in the global South, has already reached Europe, because not only Norway, Spain and Ireland recognize Palestine as a state, but also Cyprus, Sweden and Romania, for example.
Tilbørger emphasizes that the recognition of states is not a prerequisite for their statehood under international law. However, the effectiveness of interstate relations plays an important role in international law. Increasing recognition naturally increases the new state's room for maneuver within international law. For example, it can now maintain diplomatic relations with several countries, conclude treaties with several countries, and thus prove its statehood to some extent. Strictly speaking, however, this does not initially change anything from a legal point of view for other countries.
Is the pressure on the others growing?
International law does not oblige any country to recognize Palestine, even if more and more countries are doing so. However, on another level - if support increases, those countries that refuse to recognize statehood will have fewer and fewer arguments for their decision, Tilbørger told ARD. Most European countries, including Germany, have so far been of the opinion that the recognition of the state of Palestine is a diplomatic tool that should only be used at the end of the peace process. However, there seems to be a change here. It is possible that there are signals that the process should actually start precisely with the recognition, says the expert.