EU Will Continue to Respect International Consensus on Jerusalem

The European Union and its member states will continue to respect the international consensus regarding Jerusalem, the European Commission announced today, responding to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša’s statement that his country will move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

„The EU and its member states will respect the international consensus regarding Jerusalem… including the location of diplomatic missions, until the final status of Jerusalem is determined,“ said European Commission spokesperson Anuar El Anuni, as reported by the Slovenian news agency.

Janša, who earlier this month became Slovenian prime minister for the fourth time, stated in an interview with Israeli media on Friday that Slovenia would be the first EU country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, thereby joining the United States, Kosovo, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, and Papua New Guinea, which have embassies in Jerusalem.

Janša also announced that the new Slovenian government would freeze the decision to recognize the independence of Palestine, which was made in June 2024 by the previous left-liberal government.

The EC spokesperson also mentioned United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 from 1980. In it, the UN Security Council called on all states with diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw.

El Anuni declined to answer whether the relocation of the Slovenian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would constitute a violation of the EU’s common foreign policy, recalling the EU’s longstanding position regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

„The EU remains committed to a two-state solution based on negotiations, which would be founded on internationally agreed criteria and international law,“ he emphasized.

Criticism of Janša’s announcement was voiced by former Slovenian Prime Minister and president of the largest opposition party Freedom Movement, Robert Golob, as well as former coalition partners from The Left and the Social Democrats.

Opposition to the relocation of the Slovenian embassy to Jerusalem was also expressed by the president of the Slovenian parliament and leader of the opposition party Resnica, Zoran Stevanović, who emphasized that such a decision would be „contrary to international law.“