The Netherlands will abstain from voting during a vote on raising the status of Palestine with the United Nations, foreign minister Frans Timmermans told MPs on Thursday.

Timmermans said he is not opposed to a change in status but said this is not the appropriate moment. The move is an ‘act of desperation’ because the Palestinians ‘no longer know how to position themselves in the peace process’, he said.
The Palestinian Authority wants to be allowed to attend UN general assemblies as a ‘non-member state’, the same status as the Vatican. At the moment it is classed as a ‘non-member entity’.
Timmermans said he regretted the fact he had been unable to broker a common position within the EU. Spain, Denmark, Belgium and France are expected to support the motion while Germany and possibly Britain will also abstain.

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