EU says its stance on Golan Heights ‘not changed'

By Jeyhun Aliyev</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – EU's stance on the status of the Golan Heights &quot;has not changed&quot; despite U.S. move to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the &quot;occupied territory&quot;, the foreign policy chief of the bloc said on Wednesday.</p> <p>&quot;The position of the European Union as regards the status of the Golan Heights has not changed,&quot; Federica Mogherini said in a declaration on behalf of the EU.</p> <p>Mogherini's remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.</p> <p>&quot;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,&quot; the statement read.</p> <p>On Monday, Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing Golan as Israeli territory.</p> <p>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. </p> <p>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. </p> <p>In 1981, Israel formally annexed the territory, in a move unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.