New Zealand considering recognition of Palestinian state, foreign minister says

By Lucy Craymer and Christine Chen

WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand is considering recognition of a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Monday.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's cabinet would make a formal decision in September and present the government's approach at the U.N. Leaders' Week, he said.

Several countries including Australia, Britain and Canada have announced in recent weeks that they will recognise a Palestinian state at September's U.N. General Assembly.

Peters said that while some of New Zealand's close partners had opted to recognise a Palestinian state, New Zealand had an independent foreign policy.

"We intend to weigh up the issue carefully and then act according to New Zealand’s principles, values and national interest," Peters said in a statement.

The government needed to weigh up whether sufficient progress was being made towards the Palestinian territories becoming a viable and legitimate state for New Zealand to grant recognition.

“New Zealand has been clear for some time that our recognition of a Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if," Peters added.

(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed and Stephen Coates)

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