BRUSSELS Nearly half of all European Union member states will vote in favor of upgrading the PAs status at the UN, an EU spokeswoman reportedly said.
The news site EU Observer on Tuesday, Nov. 13, quoted the EUs foreign affairs spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, as saying that about 12 of the EUs 27 member states will vote in favor of the Palestinian bid to gain observer state status on the basis of the pre-1967 borders.
Last year, the UNs cultural office, UNESCO, admitted Palestine as a member. Eleven EU countries Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain voted in favor. Another 11 abstained, and five the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden voted against.
Cyprus and Israel have since developed closer ties over joint exploration of natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea. But Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal left his post in a new coalition government this week.
Rosenthals successor, center-left politician Frans Timmermans, in the past has criticized the Dutch governments pro-Israeli line.
In September, 2011, Timmermans wrote on his Twitter account that The Dutch policy in the Middle East is being determined by Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister.