Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs;
Following the formation of a new government in Israel, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, has reaffirmed the European Union's (EU) refusal to accept the planned annexation of the West Bank.
On Monday 20 April 2020, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and political rival Benny Gantz signed a coalition agreement forming a national emergency government. The agreement has seemingly put an end to over a year of political deadlock in Israel and includes plans for the annexation of parts of the West Bank, starting in July.
In response to this news, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn issued a statement today in which he “took note" of this political agreement but reaffirmed his full support of the EU's position on the matter. He stated: "I fully subscribe to the statement made on 23 April by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, in which he underlines that the European Union does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967".
Minister Asselborn recalled that "an annexation by Israel of occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank would constitute a serious violation of international law and would deal a fatal blow to the two-state solution", adding that "such a step could not be accepted by the European Union”.
