European states have on the whole decided against sending a representative to tomorrow’s signing ceremony in Washington to celebrate normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The only country that will be sending a delegation is the right-wing Hungarian government of Viktor Orban.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced yesterday that he will be the only EU diplomatic leader to attend the signing ceremony which has been dismissed as a public relations spectacle designed to boost US President Donald Trump’s chances in November’s election. The much-maligned US commander and chief is currently trailing his rival Joe Biden in opinion polls.
At the invitation of US president #Trump #Hungary will be the only EU country to send its Foreign minister to attend the signing ceremony in the White House on Tuesday for the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal#UAE #Israel
https://t.co/XFMLTnrG8J— Randa HABIB (@RandaHabib) September 14, 2020
“At the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump, as the only European Union minister, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will also attend … the signing ceremony in the White House on Tuesday,” Mate Paczolay is reported saying in Reuters.
Szijjarto’s announcement underlines the deep relations between Hungary, under Prime Orban, with his US and Israeli counterparts. Both Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are seen as sharing Orban’s hostility towards immigrants and disdain for democratic principles.
An unlikely union: Israel and the European far right | Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo https://t.co/8kWDoAmggp
— SafetyPin-Daily (@SafetyPinDaily) July 18, 2018
Szijjarto is one of the few European leaders to offer effusive praise for the Trump-led normalisation deal. “Since the White House prepared the agenda for stabilizing the region, this has been the second development to prove that this is the best peace plan thus far and promises to bring peace in the Middle East at last,” Szijjarto wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
“The U.S. President thus deserves gratitude,” he said, adding praise for Israeli, UAE and Bahraini leaders.
Reuters also confirmed that Szijjarto will also hold talks with Trump’s son-in-law and chief adviser, Jared Kushner.
#ArabLeague Rejects #Palestinian Draft Condemning #UAE– #Israel Agreement https://t.co/vg1mIL60yO via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/syYa7veZK5
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) September 13, 2020
American Jews have expressed “horror” over the deep ties between Netanyahu and Orban, who is accused of being an anti-Semite.
On August 13, Israel and the UAE have reached a deal that is expected to lead to “full normalization of relations” between the Arab nation and Israel in an agreement that US President Donald Trump reportedly helped broker.
The agreement is considered a severe blow to Palestinian efforts aimed at isolating Israel regionally and internationally until it ends its military occupation and apartheid-like system in occupied Palestine.
(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)
