عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Madrid Mulling Recognition of Palestinian State

EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreing Minister Josep Borrell chat during their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Medina
EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreing Minister Josep Borrell chat during their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Medina
TT
TT

Madrid Mulling Recognition of Palestinian State

EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreing Minister Josep Borrell chat during their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Medina
EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Foreing Minister Josep Borrell chat during their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell has dropped a bombshell by revealing that the recognition of the Palestinian state is on the agenda of the government in Madrid.

Borrell made the revelation hours before arriving in the Austrian city of Salzburg along with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to attend a two-day European Union summit on migration and Brexit.

Spain’s FM said Madrid would give its European partners an acceptable deadline to reach consensus on the issue.

Each state would be allowed to take the decision it deems appropriate if the EU fails to reach a consensual decision, he said.

But Borrell stressed that Spain would engage in heavy diplomatic activities with its European counterparts to achieve a common stance on the matter.

Asharq Al-Awsat has learned that the Spanish Foreign Minister has lately contacted the Palestinian leadership and discussed the recognition issue with his French and German counterparts.

He and Sanchez are keen to recognize the Palestinian state similar to Sweden, which became the first EU member in western Europe to make the move in 2014.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

US Agency Focused on Foreign Disinformation Shuts Down

The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
TT
TT

US Agency Focused on Foreign Disinformation Shuts Down

The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP
The State Department's Global Engagement Center has faced scrutiny and criticism from Republican lawmakers and Elon Musk. Mandel NGAN / AFP

A leading US government agency that tracks foreign disinformation has terminated its operations, the State Department said Tuesday, after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of Republican criticism.
The Global Engagement Center, a State Department unit established in 2016, shuttered on Monday at a time when officials and experts tracking propaganda have been warning of the risk of disinformation campaigns from US adversaries such as Russia and China, AFP reported.
"The State Department has consulted with Congress regarding next steps," it said in a statement when asked what would happen to the GEC's staff and its ongoing projects following the shutdown.
The GEC had an annual budget of $61 million and a staff of around 120. Its closing leaves the State Department without a dedicated office for tracking and countering disinformation from US rivals for the first time in eight years.
A measure to extend funding for the center was stripped out of the final version of the bipartisan federal spending bill that passed through the US Congress last week.
The GEC has long faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who accused it of censoring and surveilling Americans.
It also came under fire from Elon Musk, who accused the GEC in 2023 of being the "worst offender in US government censorship [and] media manipulation" and called the agency a "threat to our democracy."
The GEC's leaders have pushed back on those views, calling their work crucial to combating foreign propaganda campaigns.
Musk had loudly objected to the original budget bill that would have kept GEC funding, though without singling out the center. The billionaire is an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump and has been tapped to run the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with reducing government spending.
In June, James Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the GEC, announced the launch of a multinational group based in Warsaw to counter Russian disinformation on the war in neighboring Ukraine.
The State Department said the initiative, known as the Ukraine Communications Group, would bring together partner governments to coordinate messaging, promote accurate reporting of the war and expose Kremlin information manipulation.
In a report last year, the GEC warned that China was spending billions of dollars globally to spread disinformation and threatening to cause a "sharp contraction" in freedom of speech around the world.