Spain and Ireland are leading a group of at least four EU member states for officially recognising the Palestinian lands as a sovereign state on 21 May, said the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

The other two EU members set to recongise Palestine are Slovenia and Norway while Belgium is next in line to consider giving recognition at the earliest. Notably, as a bloc, EU is the single largest donor for Palestinians, but is yet to announce formal recognition.

The UN General Assembly is on Friday expected to support a Palestinian bid to become a full member.

Nine out of twenty-seven EU member states currently recognise the State of Palestine, with Sweden becoming the first as an EU country in 2014.

Malta, along with eastern states Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia, recognised the Palestinians' right to statehood in 1988 when the countries were under Soviet influence.

In the latest push, Malta has also joined Spain and Ireland into corralling like-minded EU neighbours for their Palestine recognition push.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that his country and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, agreed to take the first steps towards the recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, viewing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.

"This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognises the will for that state to exist," Borrell said, adding that countries such as Belgium could soon follow suit.