(Communicated by the Deputy Foreign Minister's Bureau)
Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon will leave today for an official visit to Strasburg and Bratislava. He will head an Israeli delegation to the European Council in Strasburg. Other members of the delegation include MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima) and MK Shlomo Molla (Kadima), MK Amnon Cohen (Shas) and senior officials from the Foreign Ministry.
On Tuesday, 26 January, MP Piero Fassino, Rapporteur for Middle East issues at the Council of Europe, will present his report on the Middle East to the meeting in Strasburg. Mr. Ayalon, who heads the Israeli delegation to the European Council, will participate and speak at the plenary meeting. The meeting will also be attended by a Palestinian delegation headed by the Palestinian minister of housing and infrastructure, Mr. Mohamed Ashtiya.
On Wednesday, 27 January, DFM Ayalon will arrive in Bratislava and meet with the Slovak Foreign Minister, Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, and State Secretary Ms. Diana Štrofová. It is important to note that this is the first visit to Slovakia in many years of such a senior delegation.
Also on Wednesday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mr. Ayalon will attend a ceremony for Righteous Gentiles in the presence of Slovakia’s President Ivan Gašparovič, Prime Minister Robert Fico, and other senior government officials. At the ceremony, 14 Slovakian heroes will be given citations.
Mr. Ayalon will express Israel’s appreciation to the Government of Slovakia for its stand and vote on the Goldstone report. Mr. Ayalon will discuss with senior officials in the Slovak government ways to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two states and ways to intensify the sanctions against Iran.
Deputy FM Ayalon will return to Israel on Thursday.