The UN has strengthened the status of Palestine, calls for the approval of membership. The Czech Republic was against it

At the session of the General Assembly, 143 countries supported the resolution, 25 abstained and nine members of the Czech Republic were against it. According to the text, Palestine, which has the status of an observer country in the UN, recognizes the new first, for example, the opportunity to join other UN bodies.

Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the USA voted against the proposal. A number of European countries, including Austria, Germany, Italy and Ukraine, were absent from the polls, while Russia, India and Slovakia, on the other hand, supported the idea of ​​Palestinian freedom.

In order for Palestine to become the 194th member of the United Nations, the draft would first have to be approved by the Security Council.

In April, such a proposal received the support of 12 out of 15 members of this body. The USA, as one of the five countries with only the first veto, rejected it, Britain and the Czech Republic fought back. The result was booed by Israel, while the Palestinian Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned it.

The Palestinians have been seeking membership in the UN for a long time, they won the position of observer in 2012. The self-government applied for new discussion topics in April.

The move came at a time of heightened tension in the West Bank in connection with the ongoing construction of Jewish settlements, as well as the involvement of Israel and the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which is part of the planned Palestinian state.

Its creation, regardless of the result of the ballot question, is supported by both the USA and the Czech Republic. According to the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavska, in order to adopt the resolution, an attempt is made to bypass the established procedures for the appointment of new members to the UN. This is contrary to the UN Charter, which is why the Czech Republic could not support the resolution, said the Czech Diplomacy Office.

The Independent State of Palestine is now recognized by 140 of the 193 UN countries and two non-Greek states – the Vatican and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Czechia, like most of the countries of Western Europe, North America, Australia, Japan and Korea, does not recognize the Palestinian state, although Slovakia recognized it in November 1988.