By Ayhan Simsek
BERLIN
Germany, together with 21 other EU member states, voted in favor of a United Nations resolution calling for the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
"The status of Jerusalem should be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. It should not be prejudged,” the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday evening.
"We today voted for the resolution at the UN which underlines our well-known position,” the ministry added.
EU heavyweights France, the U.K., Italy Spain also backed the UN General Assembly and stressed their commitment to a two-state solution.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Greek Cypriot administration, Greece, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia Sweden were the other EU governments which supported the resolution.
A joint statement made by EU member states that supported the resolution underlined that Jerusalem’s status should be settled through negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
“The position of our states on Jerusalem remains unchanged. The aspirations of both parties must be fulfilled and a way must be found negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of both states,” the statement read.
The EU’s efforts to agree on a unified position ahead of the vote failed due to opposition by several member states with close ties to the US.
EU members Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, Hungary and Romania abstained in the vote.
