Spain, Ireland and other member countries of the European Union they plan to recognize a Palestinian state on May 21the EU’s high representative for foreign policy said late yesterday, Thursday, Joseph Borelahead of a UN vote later today on the Palestinians’ bid to become full members of the United Nations.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Maltaagreed to take the first steps towards the recognition of a Palestinian state next to Israel, considering that a two-state solution is necessary to achieve lasting peace.

Asked by Spanish radio station PNE whether May 21 will be the day Spain, Ireland and other EU member states recognize a Palestinian state, Borrell said yes, also mentioning Slovenia.

“It is a symbolic action of a political nature. More than one state recognizes the will for this state to exist,” he said, adding that Belgium and other countries are likely to follow.

Previously, the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez he had said that the decision to recognize had been made, although he did not give a date.

International calls for a ceasefire and a permanent end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have risen alongside the death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza to root out Hamas following the Islamist Palestinian group’s bloody cross-border attack on October 7.

Israel has said plans to recognize a Palestinian state are a “reward to terrorism” that will reduce the chances of a negotiated solution to the conflict in Gaza.

Later today the UN General Assembly is expected to back the Palestinians’ bid to become full UN members by recognizing they meet the criteria for membership and sending the application back to the UN Security Council to “favorably review the matter”.

Irish public broadcaster RTE reported on Thursday that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta are awaiting the UN vote and are considering moving to joint recognition on May 21.

A spokesman for Spain’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There is no immediate comment on the date from the other countries either.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said earlier this week that his country would recognize Palestinian statehood by mid-June.

Since 1988, 139 of the 193 UN member states have recognized the statehood of Palestine.