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Asselborn said the US exerted considerable pressure ahead of the votePictured: Khaled Hussein Mohamed Alyemany, Permanent Representative of Yemen, presents the draft resolution on the illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory during the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly.Picture credit: United Nations, New York 

Asselborn said on Friday 22 December on public radio 100,7 that the situation was “grave”:

“What stands out is the pressure that was exercised by America and that we don’t have a common position in the EU.”

The USA had unilaterally decided to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on 6 December, and announced it would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

This non-binding UN resolution, adopted by a recorded vote of 128 in favour to nine against (Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Togo, United States), demanded that “all States comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not recognise any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions.”

The General Assembly further affirmed that “any decisions and actions which purport to have altered the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”

The 193-member Assembly expressed “deep regret” over recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem and stressed that the Holy City “is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant UN resolutions.”

Luxembourg position

On 7 December, the foreign affairs minister Jean Asselborn already made a statement condemning the US plans:

“The question of the status of Jerusalem will have to be resolved in the framework of peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, realising the vision of two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within secure and recognised borders.”

The statement was in line with the EU position on the two-state solution.

Failing common EU position

Over the past week, the US had put pressure on countries, threatening to withdraw financial aid and impose financial reprisals.

Indeed, there were 35 abstentions, among them six EU member states: the Czech Republic, Latvia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania and Poland. 21 delegations were absent for the vote.

When asked whether this vote would have a financial impact on Luxembourg, such as Google withdrawing its decision to build a data centre in Luxembourg, Asselborn replied that

“I can’t imagine it goes that far. It’s not about criticising or judging the policies of Israel, but about the declaration of Trump to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel only and to renege the two-state solution. Great pressure was indeed put on UN member states (…) and it was bigger than during the second Iraq war. If they say: if you don’t think and vote as we say, then you must deal with the consequences: that is American sovereignty, and cannot be put into question. Such a position is not in accordance with the multilateralism, which is the rule in the UN. It is rather extraordinary.”

He continued:

“It is not just a bad day for the UN, but also for the EU. Since 2009, we have had a clear position on Jerusalem and the two-state solution. (…) We don’t have a common EU position on a point of capital importance. (…) It shows what the declarations of the European Council are still worth.”

Frank Engel, who is a member of the European parliament for the CSV, wrote on Facebook:

“Right vote from Luxembourg--and the government--at the UN: it does not make the slightest sense for the US to move its embassy to Jerusalem. While there has been a law on this since the 1990--which president Trump just wants to enforce, so he did not come up with it--it has always been suspended. But this decision is potentially so charged with violence that one just has to reject it. And the USA must understand that the whole world does not applaud mechanically, when it takes the wrong decisions. Maybe that’s a good sign for the future.”