Hungary will move its embassy in ‘Israel’ to Jerusalem next month, making Hungary the first European Union member state to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban reached an agreement on the matter in recent days, with the details hashed out during intensive talks between Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Hungary’s top diplomat Peter Szijjarto, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The move will make Hungary the first European Union member state to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
The European Union has always urged its member states not to open an embassy in Jerusalem, because under international law, Jerusalem is a contested city, with East Jerusalem officially considered to be occupied by ‘Israel.’
“The EU’s position on relocating embassies to Jerusalem is clear. All the embassies of the EU member states, as well as the EU Delegation to Israel, are located in Tel Aviv,” EU says.
The Times of Israel said senior Foreign Ministry sources who confirmed the planned embassy transfer linked the move to Orban’s desire to help out Netanyahu, granting the premier a diplomatic achievement amid political instability over his government’s contentious plans to overhaul Israel’s judicial system.
Netanyahu has long had close relations with Orban, who has been in power since 2010. Their bond has further tightened since Netanyahu’s return to power after the general election in November.
During a visit to ‘Israel’ in 2019, Orban promised to establish a trade office with “diplomatic status” in Jerusalem, which opened several months later.
Under former President Donald Trump, the United States moved its embassy in ‘Israel’ to Jerusalem in 2018, but only a handful of other countries have done the same.
