INTERVIEW: Germany must ‘walk the walk’ and recognise us, says former Palestinian PM

By Eddy Wax / Thomas Moller-Nielsen: Department of Strategic Research, Studies and International Relations 26-09-2025

Mohammad Shtayyeh called on Berlin and other EU countries to formally recognise Palestine, arguing it would align with their support for a two-state solution

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announces his resignation

The former prime minister of Palestine, Mohammad Shtayyeh, has called on Germany and other EU countries that have not recognised it as a state to “walk the walk.”

Recognition, he told Euractiv’s flagship newsletter Rapporteur, sends a “very important message” to Israel and others who describe the occupied Palestinian territories as “disputed” land.

Shtayyeh, who held the role between 2019 and 2024, said it “might be true” that recognition won’t change the reality on the ground, but said Germany and Hungary in particular have to “walk the walk.” He argued this would not be a “punishment” to Israel.

Several EU countries, including France, Belgium, Portugal, and Malta, announced that they recognised Palestine this week, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. While 15 of the EU’s 27 member states now officially recognise Palestine, all are formally committed to a two-state solution.

Asked whether he believed Germany would eventually formally recognise Palestine, Shtayyeh replied: “I am sure of that.” “A the end of the day, the Germans will be liberated from [their] historical legacy,” he said, referring to the Holocaust.

“And I think that the German young people will push for the Palestinian right to self-determination. I am sure the German chancellor and his cabinet will listen to the German public.”  Recognition “is [also] in full harmony with the German position for a two-state solution.”

‘We don’t need new funds’

Shtayyeh also expressed scepticism about Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal earlier this week for “Palestine Donor Group” to be set up with Arab and Gulf countries to keep the Palestinian Authority (PA) afloat.

“I don’t think we need new funds, there are already existing funds,” Shtayyeh said, adding that the bloc should keep supporting the PA through its existing programme, PEGASE. Shtayyeh negotiated the latest aid-for-reforms deal with Brussels in 2022.

His remarks were echoed by an Arab diplomat. “In reality, this donor platform is repackaging something that already exists,” they said.

Asked about the PA’s reform plans, particularly whether elections could soon be held, he stressed it was also up to Israel to allow them to take place. “The ball is not always in our court,” Shtayyeh said. “Every Palestinian wants to see elections, but how can you have elections without the war being stopped in Gaza?”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has not held elections since 2005, despite his term expiring in 2009. The Fatah-controlled PA, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank, has for years been plagued by corruption scandals and allegations of nepotism. Its political rival, Hamas, controls the Gaza Strip.

Shtayyeh stressed that the Palestinians are “grateful” for Europe’s financial assistance. The bloc has pledged to provide €1.6 billion in financial aid to Palestine from 2025 to 2027, including a €400 million facility aimed at supporting private sector activity formally agreed this week.

He also welcomed von der Leyen’s announcement of a “dedicated instrument” to finance Gaza’s reconstruction, which would be part of the Donor Group.

“Europe is the only part of the world that has been consistent with its aid to Palestine,” he said. 

Source/ Euractiv