Visegrad Group cancels summit in Israel over Nazi comment

Article updated at 4:52 on Feb. 18

Leaders of the Visegrad Group — a Central European alliance formed by Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic— were supposed to meet in Jerusalem on Monday until the summit was cancelled.

After Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a comment about Polish cooperation with Nazis in the Holocaust, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Sunday that he would not attend the summit. Shorty after, the whole summit was called off.

Netanyahu’s office said he was misinterpreted during a speech in Warsaw last week in which he said that “Poles cooperated with the Germans,” according to the AP. The question was whether Netanyahu meant Poles as a nation or just some Polish people cooperated.

Last year, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda tried to sign a bill into law that would have made it illegal to accuse Poland of complicity during the Holocaust.

Also known as the V4, the Visegrad Group leaders were going to meet with Israel’s prime minister in Jerusalem on Feb. 18 and 19 to discuss fostering closer ties to advance pro-israel issues, leaving relations with the European Union strained.

The summit was “part of Netanyahu’s efforts to shake up the EU consensus on issues related to the Palestinians and Iran,” according to the Israeli newspaper Haartez.

The group has never held a meeting outside of Europe, which made the decision seem like a move solely to taunt EU leaders. The latter have been at odds with Israel since 2017, when, in a controversial move Israel changed its capital city from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The United States recognized the move, while the EU did not.

The V4 emerged after the fall of the Berlin Wall with the goal of furthering integration of its member countries in the EU. All of the member countries joined the EU in 2004, but the past couple of years have been tense. The four nations have seen a rise in xenophobic rhetoric and Euro-skepticism.

After the refugee crisis in 2015, the EU created a migrant quota system which required member nations to accept refugees based on country-specific capacity. Slovakia and Hungary refused to participate, and later Poland and the Czech Republic also boycotted the quotas.

The EU already has had a complicated relationship with Israel, and with one of last week’s headlines reading: “Israel to Host Summit for Europe’s Emerging Nationalist Bloc,” it was no wonder EU leaders were uneasy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Slovakia on Feb. 7 in an effort to calm growing disagreements with V4 leaders ahead of the Israel summit. This was the first effort of this kind since 2016.

Leaders of the Visegrad Group — a Central European alliance formed by Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic— will meet in Jerusalem on Monday, leaving European Union relations strained.

Also known as the V4, the Visegrad Group leaders will meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Feb. 18 and 19 to discuss fostering closer ties to advance pro-israel issues.

The summit is “part of Netanyahu’s efforts to shake up the EU consensus on issues related to the Palestinians and Iran,” according to the Israeli newspaper Haartez.

The group has never held a meeting outside of Europe, making the decision seem like a move solely to taunt EU leaders. The latter have been at odds with Israel since 2017, when, in a controversial move Israel changed its capital city from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The United States recognized the move, while the EU did not.

The V4 emerged after the fall of the Berlin Wall with the goal of furthering integration of its member states in the EU. All of the member countries joined the EU in 2004, but the past couple of years have been tense. The four nations have seen a rise in xenophobic rhetoric and Euro-skepticism.

Additionally, Hungary’s President Viktor Orban called Brussels the “new Moscow” referring to perceived EU over-reach. The Czech Republic’s President Milos Zeman (known as Europe’s Donald Trump) advocated for a “Czechzit” after the Brexit referendum. Poland’s President Andrzej Duda tried to sign a bill into law last year that would have made it illegal to accuse Poland of complicity during the Holocaust.

The EU already has a complicated relationship with Israel, and with headlines such as “Israel to Host Summit for Europe’s Emerging Nationalist Bloc,” it is no wonder EU leaders are uneasy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Slovakia on Feb. 7 in an effort to calm growing disagreements with V4 leaders ahead of the Israel summit. This is the first effort of this kind since 2016.

PHOTO: Foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group discuss Ukraine in 2014. Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland / Flickr. Filed under CC.