Ayhan Simsek
22 March 2019•Update: 22 March 2019
BERLIN
Germany on Friday opposed U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Israel's claim to sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights in Syria.
Ulrike Demmer, the government’s deputy spokeswoman, told a news conference in Berlin that Germany’s stance on the status of Golan Heights remained unchanged and based on international law, in the resolution 497 adopted by the UN Security Council in 1981.
“In this resolution, Israel’s annexation was declared to be null and void and without legal effect. This international legal status remains the same as before,” she said.
Demmer also underlined that any redrawing of borders could only be possible with a agreement among the conflict parties.
"The German government rejects unilateral actions," she stressed.
On Thursday, U.S. President Trump said it was time for the U.S. to fully recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Israel has long pushed Washington to recognize its claim over the territory it seized from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israel occupies roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights as a de facto result of the conflict. It moved to formally annex the territory in 1981 -- an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.
The U.S. for the first time voted against an annual UN resolution condemning Israel's control of the Golan Heights in November. In all, 151 nations voted in support, with just Israel and the U.S. voting against.
