Upgrade of Palestinian representation to Norway

The Foreign Minister has decided to upgrade the Palestinian representation to Norway. Since August this year several countries, including France, Spain, Greece and Portugal, have upgraded Palestinian representation.

The decision is based on the fact that the Palestinian Authority has made such progress over the last three years in laying the foundation for a Palestinian state that the World Bank has stated that the PA now is well-positioned for the establishment of a state at any point in the near future. The upgrade can therefore be seen as recognition of the Palestinian Authority’s efforts.

In practice, the upgrade will mean that the existing agreement with the PLO will have to be renegotiated. In a new agreement, the Palestinian representation will be referred to as the Palestinian Mission (as opposed to the General Delegation of Palestine, which is the name used today). The Palestinian representative will be called the Head of Mission (as opposed to the Head of Delegation, which is the title used today), and will have the rank of an ambassador.

Beyond this, the upgrade will not have major practical consequences, as the Palestinian representation to Norway already enjoys diplomatic privileges on a par with the representation of other countries to Norway.