El Salvador established diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority on Friday, the Global Post reports.
The move comes a week after Denmark and Finland became the latest European countries to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic missions in their countries.
Garnering official recognition as a state from as many countries as possible has been a goal of the Palestinian Authority’s government for several years now, particularly after the UN General Assembly upgraded the PA to the status of non-member observer state last November.
Following that vote, Cyprus gave the “state of Palestine” an embassy, even though it still says that a “Palestinian state” needs to be established through negotiations with Israel.
Most South and Central American countries and all of Scandinavia have recognized “Palestinian statehood” and have upgraded their representative offices to official embassies, noted the Global Post.
El Salvador recognized Palestine as an independent state in 2011.
Representing PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in San Salvador was the PA’s Foreign Minister Riad Malki, who on Friday praised the “very strong and clear” support of Latin America and the Caribbean on the statehood issue, reported Prensa Latina.
El Salvador is reportedly one of the last countries in the region to establish ties with the Palestinian Authority, with Malki telling Prensa Latina the only outlier left is Panama.
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