Edited by: JV Staff
A day after Serbia and Kosovo announced that they would open Jerusalem embassies, the president of Malawi said that his country would also open an embassy in Jerusalem, as was reported by JTA.
Lazarus Chakwera made the announcement Saturday in parliament as part of a larger announcement about new diplomatic missions Malawi will be opening. Malawi currently does not have a diplomatic mission in Israel, according to the JTA report.
JTA reported on Sunday that chief Palestinian Authority senior negotiator Saeb Erekat announced that the Palestinian Authority would sever relations with any country that opens an embassy in Jerusalem.
Tazpit Press Service reported that Serbia announced it will relocate its embassy to Jerusalem and following Israel’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Muslim-majority Kosovo, Kosovo has announced it will open its embassy in Jerusalem.
The two historic announcements were made as part of a normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo brokered by President Trump and signed at the White House on Friday, as was reported by TPS.
Serbia, which said it will relocate its embassy by July 2021, is the first European country to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked his “friend” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for “the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer to it his country’s embassy.”
He also thanked Trump for “his contribution to this achievement. We will continue efforts so that additional European countries will transfer their embassies to Jerusalem.”
Trump telephoned Netanyahu during the meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Abdullah Hoti and congratulated the two leaders on their decision to establish full diplomatic relations between the two countries.
“Kosovo will be the first Muslim majority country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. As I have been saying in recent days, the circle of peace and recognition of Israel is expanding and additional countries are expected to join it,” Netanyahu stated.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi welcomed Serbia’s announcement as “an important and courageous step that testifies to the depth of relations between Israel and Serbia and will lead to the strengthening of the friendship between the two nations.”
Israel views the decision of Serbia and Kosovo to establish embassies in Jerusalem “as a symbolic step towards promoting peace between these countries. The city of Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the State of Israel, will constitute a bridge of peace to the entire world,” he added, calling on other countries to follow in their footsteps and move their embassies to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.”
Ashkenazi also thanked Trump and the US administration for leading the move and “for its regional and international leadership.”
(TPS)
