Danes, Finns upgrade Palestinian diplomatic status

Foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland decide to upgrade status of Palestinian missions in their countries so 'Palestine gets the same status' as other embassies

Associated Press |Published: 05.04.13 , 09:55

Finland and Denmark have become the latest European countries to upgrade the status of Palestinian diplomatic missions.

Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Danish counterpart Villy Soevndal made the announcement Friday after a meeting of the Nordic foreign ministers in Stockholm.

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Soevndal said the move means that "Palestine gets the same status" as embassies from other countries based in Helsinki and Copenhagen, adding that both countries believe Palestinian self-rule has "come very far in recent years."

All five Nordic countries, which also include Sweden, Norway and Iceland, voted in favor of granting status to the Palestinians as a non-member observer state at the UN General Assembly in November.

In March 2011, upon Mahmoud Abbas's first official visit to Denmark, Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen decided to upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation in Copenhagen to the level of a mission in line with a number of other EU countries.

"I'm pleased to announce our government's decision to upgrade the status of the Palestinian representation in Denmark," Rasmussen told reporters at a joint news conference with visiting Palestinian President Abbas.

At the time, the Danish foreign ministry elaborated that the Palestinian delegation would be upgraded from the level of "Palestinian general representation" to "the Palestinian mission to Denmark." Abbas said the move reflected "the deep commitment between the two countries."

The desicion came only a day after Google recognized the Palestinian state - at least de facto on its local home page in the Palestinian territories.

Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said Friday "We're changing the name `Palestinian territories' to `Palestine' across our products."