Poland opposes U.S. decision over Golan Heights

WARSAW, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Poland, together with the other European Union members of the United Nations Security Council, has criticized the U.S. decision to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights region.

"The EU's position is well-known and has not changed. In line with international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions 242 497, we do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," the Polish Permanent Mission to the UN wrote on Twitter Tuesday night.

Earlier on Tuesday, the five UN Security Council members from the European Union -- Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, and Poland -- issued a joint statement after U.S. President Donald Trump's Monday proclamation to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territory that Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981.

"We do not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, including the Golan Heights, and we do not consider them to be part of the territory of the state of Israel," Belgian Ambassador to the UN Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve told media at the UN, speaking for the five EU countries.

"We raise our strong concerns about broader consequences of recognizing illegal annexation and also about the broader regional consequences," he said, flanked by the ambassadors of Poland, France, Germany and Britain.

Israel occupied much of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War. In 1981, Israel annexed the territory, although this was never recognized by the international community.