German Chancellor announces no joining of the 'Recognition of the State of Palestine Initiative'

SadaNews - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced today, Tuesday, that his country will not join the initiative by Western allies to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next month. Merz spoke at a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who announced last month his country's intention to recognize the State of Palestine at the General Assembly, following similar steps from France and Britain. During the joint press conference with Carney in Berlin, he said, "We will not join this initiative. We do not see the conditions for recognizing a state currently fulfilled at all." Germany considers the recognition of a Palestinian state as one of the last steps on the road to a two-state solution that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live peacefully side by side. In contrast, Carney announced at the end of July that his country would recognize Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly, and French President Emmanuel Macron intends to do the same. Carney justified this by stating that the aspirations for a two-state solution are increasingly deteriorating. Merz confirmed that Germany will not follow suit in the United Nations General Assembly, explaining that recent events in Gaza have not changed anything in that regard.