Greece’s parliament is urging the country’s government to recognize Palestine as a state.

The move came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attended Tuesday’s session, according to a news release. While parliament approved a resolution asking Greece’s government “to speed up all necessary procedures towards the recognition of the State of Palestine,” the government still has to take that formal step. There’s no indication when or if that action will actually occur.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who also attended the session, called the gesture “a very important and historical step” in a news release. Addressing parliament, Abbas expressed gratitude for the vote, which he said sent “a message of support and solidarity” to Palestinians.

The resolution was approved one day after Abbas told reporters in Athens that Palestine would begin to issue “State of Palestine” passports before the end of 2016.

The Greek resolution notes that the country “has steadily supported the two-state solution,” which favors creating a Palestinian state separate from Israel. Such a state would be based on 1967 borders and have East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the adopted resolution.

Al-Jazeera reported that multiple other European parliaments have passed similar resolutions.

Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, condemned the action, telling French news agency AFP that Abbas was continuing chase “recognition which has no meaning in practice.”

“Instead of (Abbas) ceasing to incite and fund terror, he is following a flawed path that will lead him nowhere,” AFP quoted the deputy foreign minister as saying.

In September, the State of Palestine flag was raised at United Nations headquarters in New York. Israel dismissed that action as a photo opportunity.