Pedro Sánchez and the Norwegian Prime Minister agree to “coordinate’ and “work side by side”, although they leave in the air the possibility of doing so at the same time. The Spanish-Norwegian statement condemns the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, describes the bombings on Gaza as “indiscriminate and disproportionate” and calls on all countries to resume their financial support to UNRWA.
Norway does not belong to the EU, but its incorporation into the initiative led by Spain is very important for La Moncloa, since Oslo was the scene in 1993 of the peace agreements reached as a consequence of the Madrid Conference of 1991. The Norwegian government plays a mediating role in the delivery to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of the taxes that Israel collects in the occupied territories. In November, the Norwegian Parliament urged its Government to recognize the Palestinian State, similar to what the Spanish Congress did in 2014. Although some European countries, such as Germany, condition recognition on an agreement with Israel, Spain believes that this implies grant veto power to Netanyahu.