Poland pulls out of a summit in Jerusalem after the "unacceptable" statements of an Israeli minister – 18/02/2019

The summit of the Visegrad Group (Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic) in Israel was canceled this Monday after the withdrawal of the Polish delegation due to diplomatic tensions between Warsaw and Tel Aviv.

The Prime Minister PolandMateusz Morawiecki, announced early in the day the cancellation of the visit of a Polish delegation after the "Unacceptable" statements by Israeli minister.

"I took the decision to cancel the visit of the Polish delegation to Israel," he explained, before stressing that the other members of the Visegrad group had been informed before the summit in Israel , reported the local newspaper. Wiadomosci.

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On Sunday, February 17, Morawiecki had already canceled his visit to Israel to attend the Visegrad Group meeting in Jerusalem on February 18 and 19, he said that Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz would travel in his place.

However, he finally decided to cancel the delegation's visit following statements by the acting Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yitzrael Katz, who said that "Polish anti-Semitism of bad milk".

Morawiecki stressed that "as a state, Poland behaved as it should Second World War. We regret that some do not understand it ", before reiterating that "Poland was the biggest victim of the Second World War".

"For us, this part of history is fundamental and we do not share this rhetoric in relations, we will defend the honor of Poles around the world," he said.

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For his part, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis announced that the top of the Visegrad group had been canceled because of the absence of Poland, and indicated that the Czech delegation would participate in bilateral meetings with Israeli officials.

In this regard, Babis pointed out that the summit will take place in the second half of 2019, when the Czech Republic badumes the rotating presidency of the group, as reported the Czech news agency CTK.

Subsequently, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Emmanuel Nahshon, confirmed that there would be no "summit", even if the prime ministers of the three other member countries of the group will meet their Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the local newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Bilateral constraints

This decision of Poland takes place within the framework of Bilateral tensions generated by Netanyahu's comments at the summit of the Middle East, which was held last week in Warsaw.

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At the same time, the Israeli leader denied being a "revisionist" for criticizing a Polish law criminalizes anyone trying to hold Poland responsible for the Holocaust. "I say that the Poles collaborated with the Nazis. I know the story and I do not bleach it. I just raised it, "he said.

In addition, he added that "a significant number" of Poles collaborated with the Nazis. "I do not know anyone who has been denounced for saying so," he said.

The Israeli government subsequently sent a clarification to Warsaw for information published by other means. they attributed the collaboration with Nazism to the Polish people and not to some people of Polish nationalitybut the government found these explanations insufficient.

The role of Poland during the Holocaust is a very sensitive issue in the European country. He was at the center of a diplomatic dispute with Israel in 2018 because to a project that included jail sentences for anyone who suggested that Poland had collaborated with the Nazis.

Many Poles still refuse to accept research that shows that thousands of citizens of the country participated directly or collaborated in the Holocaust. The Government emphasizes that the country was occupied and that was another victim of Nazi Germany during the war.

Source: DPA

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