A senior Fatah official on Tuesday said that a European parliament vote to recognize Palestine as a state has been postponed due to an issue of wording.

“The right-wing parties, who represent a majority in the European parliament, wanted a wording similar to the Spanish decision, which reads that recognition will be declared after Palestinians and Israelis reach a peace agreement,” Nabil Shaath told Ma’an.

Such a wording would not grant Palestinians self-determination, Shaath said.

He told Ma’an that left-wing parties believed recognition of Palestine as a state could help lead to a peace agreement.

The European parliament announced Monday that it would postpone a vote on the recognition of Palestine until the December session.

Shaath told Ma’an that the Danish parliament would vote on recognition of Palestine as a state on Dec. 12.

He said the Palestinian leadership would then push for state recognition from Austria and Finland.

Sweden announced its recognition of Palestine as a state on Oct. 30, with Israel recalling its ambassador to Stockholm in response, calling the decision a “historic mistake.”

Spanish lawmakers adopted a motion last week calling on the government to recognize a Palestinian state, following similar moves in other European nations.

The motion submitted by the opposition Socialists asks the conservative government to recognize Palestine in coordination with any similar move by the European Union.

Britain and Ireland approved similar non-binding motions last month that call on their governments to recognize Palestine. Neither government has heeded that call.

France’s National Assembly is set to debate a non-binding resolution on Friday, followed by a vote on Dec. 2.

The Palestinian leadership is still planning to formally submit to the UN Security Council a draft resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal from all occupied territory in 2016.

(Ma’an and agencies – www.maannews.net)