A Polish government official says Warsaw is still waiting for Israel's government to apologize for comments the acting foreign minister made about Poles and their role in the Holocaust.
Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek said Tuesday the "shameful, scandalous and slanderous" comments by the Israeli minister, Israel Katz, require an "unequivocal and definite" reaction.
He said it was up to Israel to choose the form the apology takes and how it is delivered.
Katz said last week that Poles collaborated with Nazi Germans and "sucked anti-Semitism with their mothers' milk."
The remarks prompted Poland to pull out of a summit of central European nations in Jerusalem and the summit was canceled.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead hosted a series of sit-downs Tuesday with his Czech, Slovakian and Hungarian counterparts.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive said Monday it will demand explanations from Eurovision song contest organizers why its flag was banned from the concert hall during the final.
In a contest already full of controversy, the European Commission said it plans “a very lively discussion” with the organizers over the ban. Even though the 27-nation EU did not compete as such, many of its member states did, and the star-spangled blue flag is often seen as a unifier for all involved.
EU Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said it had “no information from the organizers at this point in time about the motivation for refusing the European flag during the event,” but the ban clearly angered EU Vice President Margaritis Schinas enough to hold talks with the Swiss-based European Broadcast Union, which organizes the contest.
“We certainly encourage the EBU to understand this is a mistake,” Mamer said.
During the weeklong contest, organizers were already roiled by the protests linked to the war in Gaza and the controversial disqualification of the Dutch participant over an incident which was never fully explained.
Ahead of the final, a spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union that runs the show said ticket holders are only allowed to bring and display flags representing participating countries, as well as the rainbow-colored flag which is a symbol for LGBTQ+ communities.
Swiss singer Nemo won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest early Sunday with “The Code,” an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing a nongender identity.
Eden Golan of Israel enters the arena during the flag parade before the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Nemo, representing Switzerland, with the song "The Code," wins the final of the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmö Arena, in Malmö, Sweden, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via AP)
