Polish Prime Minister Scraps Visit To Jerusalem Over Netanyahu's WWII Remarks - Warsaw

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2019) Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has canceled his visit to Jerusalem, which hosts next week's Visegrad Group summit, over the row around his Israeli counterpart's remarks about Poles' involvement in the Nazi crimes, the head of the Polish prime minister's office said on Sunday.

Commenting on a Polish law that criminalizes blaming the Polish nation for Holocaust crimes on Thursday, Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by some media as saying that "the Poles collaborated with the Nazis and I don't know anyone who was ever sued for such a statement." Warsaw interpreted it as a reference to the Polish nation as a whole and summoned the Israeli ambassador. The ambassador argued that Netanyahu meant only those Poles who collaborated with the Nazis.

"Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki informed Prime Minister Netanyahu that at the meeting of the Visegrad Four in Israel, Poland will be represented by Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz," Michal Dworczyk told the Telewizja Polska broadcaster.

He specified that the decision was connected to the row around Netanyahu's words.

"In the past few days, several false accusations against the Polish state have emerged in the media space. Some of these statements were subsequently corrected, with apologies offered over some of them. However, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki holds a very principled stand with regard to the accusations against the Polish state and the Polish people of the actions we did not commit during World War II," he stressed.

In March, Poland passed a bill criminalizing any accusations against Poland of complicity in war crimes during World War II, including the Holocaust. The legislation aimed to eliminate public misattribution of responsibility for Nazi crimes to the Poles. The law was criticized by a number of states, which argued that it distorted the historical facts.

The summit of the Visegrad Group � which comprises Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia � is slated to take place in Jerusalem on Tuesday.