"Annexation will have consequences on EU relationship with Israel"

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell related to the issue of annexation of Judea and Samaria today (Thrusday).

"We strongly urge Israel to refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory", Borrell said, "I had the opportunity of expressing this point of view in my phone calls with the new Ministers of Foreign Affairs [Gavriel Ashkenazi] and Defence [Benjamin Gantz] of Israel".

Borrell stated that "this would constitute a serious violation of international law. In March, in Geneva, 27 Member States agreed on that".

Borrell said that annexation "would cause real damage to the prospects for a two-state solution".

"It would negatively affect regional stability, our relations with Israel and between Israel and Arab States, and potentially the security of Israel, which is not negotiable for us, let me stress that also".

"From an European Union perspective", he noted, "annexation would inevitably have significant consequences for the close relationship we currently enjoy with Israel".