While diplomatic recognition and the granting of sovereign statehood is ultimately a national prerogative, it has also been a long-standing ambition among EU Member States to harmonise and work closely together to coordinate when and to whom sovereignty is granted. This has been particularly the case when it comes to the Middle East and the question of recognising Palestine as a state. Against this background, this paper examines how and why the Swedish government decided to break ranks with other EU member states and unilaterally recognise Palestine as a sovereign state in October 2014, and to what consequences. The paper explores this puzzle from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Firstly, we assess expectations drawn from the literature on the Europeanization of Swedish foreign policy, which emphasises how European diplomatic practices of foreign policy-making have become increasingly embedded in what seems a self-reinforcing practice. Secondly, based on interviews with Swedish and European foreign policy-makers, we make an empirical contribution and shed new light on the process of diplomatic recognition of sovereign statehood in EU foreign policy, as well as on the consequences of ‘breaking ranks’ with European partners.
