Poland shuns Israel summit amid Holocaust row

WARSAW: Poland’s prime minister on Monday cancelled Warsaw’s participation in a summit in al-Quds, accusing Israel’s foreign minister of "racist" comments about the actions of Poles during the Holocaust, in a row that has stoked outrage and soured relations.

Mateusz Morawiecki’s decision to scotch Poland’s involvement in the summit of central European nations follows days of angry exchanges that were originally sparked by quotes from Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over the role of Poles during World War II.

Slovak government spokeswoman Patricia Macikova told AFP this week’s summit with Israel and the Visegrad Four (V4) -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia -- would be postponed until later in the year following Poland’s pull out.

"The prime ministers of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary will use the visit for bilateral meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as a trilateral meeting," she added, speaking for Slovak Premier Peter Pellegrini, who currently chairs the V4 group.

However, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said it was not immediately clear whether Israel would hold a summit with the remaining participants or instead organise a series of separate meetings.

Polish leader Mateusz Morawiecki, who said on Sunday he would not attend the Jerusalem summit over the row, said the country’s foreign minister would now not be attending the meeting over the comments.

"The words of the Israeli foreign minister are racist and unacceptable," he said. Poland’s foreign ministry had summoned Israeli ambassador Anna Azari over the remarks by acting Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Sunday, the second time in just days that Warsaw has taken such action.