Slovakia upgraded the status of the diplomatic mission it plans to open in Jerusalem in September so that it now falls under the country’s Foreign Ministry.
It’s a move that is seen as a victory for Israel’s campaign against international refusal to recognize that Jerusalem – even west Jerusalem – is the capital of the Jewish state.
The landlocked Central European country first pledged to open a cultural mission in Jerusalem in 2018, when former US president Donald Trump was in office and was pressing the international community to follow America’s lead in relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But its government has since changed, as has that of the United States and Israel. President Joe Biden has not prioritized international recognition of Jerusalem as had his predecessor.
But then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed forward on the issue, with former foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi raising the matter with his Slovakian counterpart, Ivan Korcok. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also spoke to Korcok about it.
On Wednesday, the Slovakian foreign minister fixed the date for the opening of the diplomatic mission.
“Slovakia is deepening relations with #Israel by opening the Slovak Institute in #Jerusalem on September 1, 2021,” Korcok tweeted.
He was careful to underscore, however, his country’s commitment to a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the pre-1967 lines, which would place the Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem.
Slovakia “continues to support the resumption of Middle East Peace Process & 2-state solution in line w/ international law,” he tweeted.
His announcement came just two days after Lapid returned from Brussels, where he met with the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, which is a gathering of foreign ministers that included Korcok as well.
Lapid tweeted Korcok’s announcement with the line, “Thank you minister @IvanKorcok for your important decision to open the Slovak Institute in Jerusalem.
“This step is a symbol of your friendship and it will serve to strengthen the relations between our countries,” he added.
Since the US Embassy relocation in 2018, only three other countries have placed their embassies in Jerusalem: Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo.
Equatorial Guinea and Malawi have also pledged to open embassies in Jerusalem. The Czech Republic and Hungary have already given a nod in that direction by opening diplomatic offices in Jerusalem, both of which are seen as branches of the Tel Aviv embassies.
The Hungarian, Czech and Slovakian moves are contrary to EU policy, which opposes any action on Jerusalem prior to a final-status agreement for a two-state resolution to the conflict.•