Mohammad Shtayyeh
Mohammad ShtayyehReuters

Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh met on Wednesday with the new European Union representative to the Palestinian territories, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, and again called on Europe to recognize “Palestine”.

Shtayyeh also called on the European Union to fill the void resulting from the failure of the so-called “Deal of the Century”, which sided completely with Israel, reported the official PA news agency Wafa.

Shtayyeh congratulated Burgsdorff on his new position, and wished him success in his duties in developing relations between Europe and the PA, stressing that Europe has always been important to “Palestine” at the political and developmental levels.

Earlier this week, Shtayyeh called on Spain to recognize the “State of Palestine” and to lead a political move in Europe that will bring about support for Palestinian independence and sovereignty and the two-state solution.

Palestinian Arab officials have been pressuring countries to officially recognize “Palestine”, in a move meant to bypass direct peace talks with Israel.

Those calls have grown since US President Donald Trump unveiled his peace plan for Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas was quick to reject the US plan and said it would be relegated to the "dustbin of history."

While several European countries have recognized “Palestine” in recent years, those moves were symbolic ones that have little, if any, actual diplomatic effect.