EU says its stance on Golan Heights ‘not changed'

ANKARA

EU's stance on the status of the Golan Heights "has not changed" despite U.S. move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the "occupied territory", the foreign policy chief of the bloc said on Wednesday.

"The position of the European Union as regards the status of the Golan Heights has not changed," Federica Mogherini said in a declaration on behalf of the EU.

Mogherini's remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

"In line with the international law and UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 497, the European Union does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights," the statement read.

On Monday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing Golan as Israeli territory.

According to the UN, the Golan’s legal status will remain unchanged -- despite Trump’s announcement -- and still be considered “occupied territory” under international law.

Israel occupied the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and continues to occupy roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights region as a direct result of the conflict.

In 1981, Israel formally annexed the territory, in a move unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.