Brussels: The European Union`s Swedish presidency said Tuesday that it was `premature` to recognise a Palestinian state, even as its leaders prepare to seek such recognition at the UN Security Council.
"I don`t think we are there yet," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU`s rotating presidency, told reporters in Brussels.
"I would hope that we would be in a position to recognise a Palestinian state but there has to be one first, so I think it is somewhat premature," he said, before chairing talks with his EU counterparts.
On Sunday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said they would "go to the UN Security Council to ask for recognition of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and with June 1967 borders."
Bureau Report
