Visegrad summit canceled due to Poland pulling out

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Israel Monday said that the Visegrad summit (V4) originally planned for Jerusalem this week will be replaced with bilateral meetings with Czech, Slovak and Hungarian leaders after Poland pulled out in protest at Holocaust rhetoric.

"There will be no full V4 meeting," Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said in a text message, using a term for the central European bloc. "Three PMs are arriving and will hold meetings with [Israel's] PM."

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The summit may be rescheduled for the second half of this year, said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, according to Czech news agency CTK.

Earlier Sunday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced the cancellation of a trip to Israel after their acting foreign minister said "many Poles" collaborated with the Nazis in World War II and share responsibility for the Holocaust.

Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki speaks during a press conference at the Visegrad Group + Germany summit in Bratislava Castle, February 7, 2019. /VCG Photo

The diplomatic spat between Poland and Israel has been escalating since Friday, when Israeli media reported remarks by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday suggesting Polish complicity in the Holocaust.

The V4 group (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) share a cultural background, intellectual values and common roots in diverse religious traditions, and have in recent times made their voices heard on the EU stage through challenging Brussels on issues such as immigration and the relocation of refugees.

(Cover: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a news conference with the Visegrad Group Prime Ministers in Budapest, Hungary, July 19, 2017. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters