Finland backs UN declaration on two-state solution

Finland announced on Friday that it is joining a declaration on a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian question and the implementation of a two-state solution.

The declaration stems from an international conference held at the United Nations in July, co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and France, aimed at addressing the decades-long conflict. Both the United States and Israel boycotted the meeting.

“The process led by France and Saudi Arabia is the most significant international effort in years to create the conditions for a two-state solution,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen wrote on X.

The declaration’s first step calls for an end to the nearly two-year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. It also outlines “tangible, time-bound, and irreversible steps” towards realising a two-state solution, with Riyadh and Paris urging other UN member states to lend their support.

Unlike some other European countries, such as Spain and Norway, Finland has not formally recognised Palestine as a state. The issue remains a subject of internal division within the Finnish coalition government.