EU urges US to avoid move affecting Jerusalem's status

By Ilker Girit

ISTANBUL (AA) - The European Union on Tuesday said that a possible U.S. announcement on the status of Jerusalem "would undermine" peace efforts.

The EU's foreign chief Federica Mogherini, after a phone call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, released a statement saying that the U.S. should avoid unilateral action affecting Jerusalem's status.

"The European Union was clear in its expectation that there can be reflection on the consequences that any decision or unilateral action affecting Jerusalem's status could have.

"It might have serious repercussions on public opinion in large parts of the world," Mogherini said.

She also said the focus "should therefore remain on the efforts to restart the peace process and avoiding any action that would undermine such efforts."

Last week, the U.S. media reported that U.S. President Donald Trump was mulling the imminent relocation of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the formal recognition of the city as Israel’s capital.

Jerusalem remains at the core of the perennial Israel-Palestine conflict, as Palestinians want Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

During his election, Trump promised to relocate the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “concern about the possibility that the United States unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel.”

Macron told Trump over the phone “that the question of the status of Jerusalem will have to be settled within the framework of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, aiming in particular at the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and safe with Jerusalem as capital,” read an Elysee statement.