Majority of Finnish lawmakers support recognition of Palestine

ATHENS

A majority of Finnish lawmakers support the recognition of Palestine as a state, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported Thursday.

A total of 107 lawmakers who responded to a straw poll by the broadcaster had 61 supporting recognitions, and 32 rejecting the proposal. Fourteen were undecided or declined to vote from the 200 who participated.

The poll suggests that there is broader support in the opposition ranks than among the four governing parties, according to the broadcaster, with the strongest opposition to the proposal among legislators from two of the coalition partners -- the Finns Party and the Christian Democrats.

It underlined that opposition lawmakers from the Social Democratic Party, the Greens, the Left Alliance and the Movement Now parties who responded to the survey expressed support for the recognition.

"If we do not succeed in stopping Israel, soon there will be no Palestine to recognize. The international community must pressure Israel to end the genocide in Gaza and the illegal occupation and oppression of Palestinians in the West Bank,” said Saara Hyrkoo from the Greens.

Mai Kivela of the Left Alliance said: "The decades-long oppression of the Palestinians must be brought to an end through international pressure, and recognizing Palestine is one step in this direction.”