The change on the ground, which is what I focus on, where the recognition does not have a real significance. What has a significance, I believe, to move towards a two-state solution is to clearly support the building of the Palestinian authority, she says.
Several countries – including France, the United Kingdom and Canada – have in recent days decided to recognize a Palestinian state. In several cases, the decisions have been communicated in connection with appearances in the UN.
The recognition issue, I perceive as a way for several countries to create a momentum for change, says Malmer Stenergard.
In the UN General Assembly, representatives of the Palestinian authority are absent. Ahead of the session's opening – which takes place in September every year – among other things, the Palestinians' president Mahmud Abbas and his delegation were denied visas by the USA.
The fact that the representatives are stopped is now being criticized by Malmer Stenergard.
This is something we, together with the EU, have expressed ourselves very critically about. They should have been allowed to come here and we have also clearly stated this, she says from the USA.
We have made joint statements together with Kaja Kallas (the EU's foreign chief). When we learned about this, we were at a council meeting in Copenhagen and together with many others, we expressed great dismay over this.
