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PalestineâSweden relations are bilateral relations between the State of Palestine and Sweden. Sweden recognized Palestine as a sovereign state on 30 October 2014. [1] Palestine has an embassy in Stockholm, which opened in February 2015. [2]
Sweden voted in favor of the United Nations plan for the partition of Palestine in 1947. [3] Folke Bernadotte, a Swede, was a United Nations mediator in the ArabâIsraeli conflict and put forward a peace plan before he was assassinated by the Zionist group Lehi in 1948 who accused him of favoring the Arabs. [4] During the 1980s, Sweden also mediated the US's lifting of the ban on holding direct talks with the PLO. [5]
In October 2014, Sweden recognised Palestinian statehood after the Social Democratic Party won a plurality in the 2014 general election. [6] Palestinians and their supporters welcomed Sweden's decision, viewing it as a significant step towards achieving international recognition for Palestine. [7]
In 2022, the Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström called the 2014 Palestine Recognition Was 'Premature and Unfortunateâ. [8]