GENEVA: Palestinian Authority representatives are touring Europe to try to convince countries that have not yet recognized a Palestinian state to get on board, a presidential envoy said during a visit to Switzerland on Wednesday.
Former Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, currently serving as special envoy for President Mahmud Abbas, told reporters that he had met with Switzerland's top diplomat to push Bern to join "the countries who recognize Palestine".
He said he would be travelling on to the Netherlands and Austria with the same message.
"Another delegation will be going to the Baltic states, and our president hopefully will visit Italy and Germany," he told the briefing, organized by the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.
A majority of European nations now recognize a Palestinian state, following official declarations last month by Britain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and others against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
A number of non-European states, like Australia and Canada have also recently joined their ranks, in moves slammed by Israel.
"There are 34 countries that did not yet recognize Palestine," Shtayyeh said.
"We are simply in contact with these countries, trying to urge them to be part of the countries who recognize Palestine, not part of the countries who did not recognize Palestine."
In Switzerland, he said he had met with Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis.
"My message to the Swiss leadership is very simple: This is the country that ‘hosts’ UN agencies, and this is the depository for Geneva Conventions," he said.
"I did urge the Swiss leadership to walk the walk and recognize Palestine as a state similar to the countries that have done so."
While there are forces in Switzerland pushing for recognition, such a move could take time.
A coalition of civil society, NGOs and politicians began this week gathering signatures to push through a popular vote on the issue, under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system.
If they manage to gather 100,000 signatures over the next 18 months, the Swiss will be called to vote on whether they want recognition of "Palestine as a sovereign and independent state" to be enshrined in the Swiss constitution.
