Several European states, such as Germany, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, have declined the invitation to Sunday’s relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem for technical reasons or due to their stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The US decision to relocate embassy to Jerusalem was largely met with criticism with the European Union, although such states as Austria, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic accepted the invitation to the opening ceremony, scheduled for Sunday, thereby contradicting the EU official policy on Jerusalem’s status. According to the bloc’s course, Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel and Palestine in the framework of the envisaged two-state solution to the Middles Eastern crisis.
Interestingly, Bulgaria, which previously stated its ambassador would attend the reception in honor of the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem, has reportedly given an unclear answer to the Foreign Ministry.
https://twitter.com/noa_landau/status/995371243607126016
Many European nations, including Germany, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Poland and Sweden were joined by Australia, Russia and Mexico in their decision to decline the invitation.
The upcoming ceremony will be attended by US President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser, Ivanka, her husband, fellow presidential adviser Jared Kushner; US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and other US officials. In the meantime, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that the president’s decision to relocate the embassy wasn’t made as part of a “give and take” with Tel Aviv, but based on “the interests of the United States.”