Ireland opposes shift of US embassy site in Israel

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, right, talks with Ireland's Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan during an EU foreign ministers meeting at the EU Council in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (The Associated Press)

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EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, left, talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an EU foreign ministers meeting at the EU Council in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (The Associated Press)

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, left, talks with Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini, right, and Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom during an EU foreign ministers meeting at the EU Council in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) (The Associated Press)

BRUSSELS – Ireland is opposed to the United States moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a step that would anger the Palestinians.

Irish Foreign Minister Charles Flanagan said Monday "I would be concerned at any unilateral departure from what has been a long held position of the United Nations as far as the siting of embassies is concerned."

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has not yet laid out a clear policy for the Middle East, but has signaled he will be more sympathetic to Israel's hard-line right than previous administrations. He has vowed to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Flanagan's remarks came at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, where tensions between Israel and Palestinians are high on the agenda.