Portugal to recognise a Palestinian state

Portugal has joined Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom in announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state. In a statement on Friday, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the recognition will take place on Sunday, a day before a high-level conference on Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that Portugal will recognise the State of Palestine,” the ministry wrote in a statement on its website. “The Official Declaration of Recognition will take place on Sunday, September 21st, before next week’s High-Level Conference,” the statement added. According to Portugal’s Correio da Manha newspaper, the country’s centre-right Prime Minister Luis Montenegro consulted with the president and parliament before finalising the decision....