BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Danish parliament will debate a motion calling for the recognition of Palestine as a state on Thursday, the latest in a series of similar measures across Europe as the EU parliament holds a crucial vote on Palestine next week.

Danish MP Holger K. Nielsen, one of the main drivers behind the initiative in Denmark, told Ma'an that the first reading will take place Thursday before a potential vote in the second reading, which could take place in early 2015.

The motion was introduced by the Red-Green Alliance, the Socialist People's Party, and Greenland's Inuit Ataqatigiit, three small left-wing parties. It calls on the government to recognize Palestine as a state within the 1967 borders

"I think there is strength now among European countries tired of Israel's attitude to negotiations and it is therefore more important now to put pressure on Israel," Nielsen, a member of the SPP, said.