Malta will not be formally recognising Palestine as a state on Friday, as Robert Abela had initially indicated last month, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister told Times of Malta.
Abela had told party supporters in May that Malta would finally formally recognise Palestine in the near future, indicating this would take place at a United Nations conference slated for June 20.
A day earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg had also hinted at potential developments expected at the same conference, suggesting that Malta could join a group of other countries taking a unified stand on the issue.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this week that the conference would be postponed after Israel launched a military attack on Iran, with sources telling international press that the strikes made it logistically difficult for countries in the region to attend.
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said that the conference being postponed was out of its hands since “it is not the Maltese government that decides when the conference convenes”.
The spokesperson said Malta “remains firmly committed to recognising a Palestinian state” and will do so “once the appropriate circumstances are in place”.
Sources told Times of Malta that the move to recognise the Palestinian state could be postponed to the end of summer, with the UN General Assembly in September indicated as a possible opportunity to announce Malta’s position.
US pressure to skip the conference
Friday’s postponed UN conference, a joint France-Saudi Arabia effort hosted in New York, was set to bring together several countries to work towards a two-state solution.
In the run-up to the conference, the organisers had said they aimed to “move from words to deeds,” charting concrete actions to bring beleaguered hopes of a two-state solution back on track.
Reuters reported that the Trump-led US administration was discouraging governments around the world from attending the conference, warning that they could be seen as acting against US interests and face possible diplomatic consequences if they forge ahead.
This is not the first time the Maltese government has changed its plans to recognise Palestine as a state.
In March 2024, the government said that it was joining Spain, Ireland and Slovenia in working towards recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Two months later, Ireland and Spain (together with Norway) took the plunge, formally declaring that they were recognising the Palestinian state.
However, Malta was nowhere to be seen, instead telling Times of Malta that it was waiting for a time “when the circumstances are right”. The reasons behind Malta’s change of heart at the time remain unclear.