By Qais Abu Samra 

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh al-Maliki on Friday hailed Madrid’s stated intention to officially recognize Palestine.  

“We are deeply gratified by Spain's recent announcement that it plans to recognize Palestine,” a ministry statement quoted al-Maliki as saying.  

“The recent remarks by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell are very encouraging,” he added. 

On Wednesday, Borrell announced his country's intention to officially recognize the state of Palestine, saying Madrid was now awaiting a unanimous EU resolution in this regard. 

According to Borrell, his government plans to set a deadline by which the EU should reach consensus on the issue.  

If the deadline passes without consensus being reached, the prime minister said, Madrid will unilaterally acknowledge the state of Palestine. 

Palestine embarked on its current strategy of seeking international recognition as an independent state in 1988 with its declaration of independence. 

In 2009 and 2010, a second phase of this strategy began, during which a number of capitals formally recognized Palestine as a country. 

In 2012, the UN General Assembly voted to upgrade Palestine’s status at the world body to “non-member observer state”.