JERUSALEM (JTA) — A summit of foreign ministers was postponed after Egypt refused to attend with Avigdor Lieberman.
The meeting of foreign ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which was scheduled for next week in Turkey, was postponed Monday when Egypt said it would not take part if the Israeli foreign minister was among the participants.
The partnership includes all 27 member states of the European Union, as well as 16 countries in the southern Mediterranean and the Middle East. France had initiated the foreign ministers’ meeting.
"It’s a shame that Egypt acts in a negative way and takes advantage of a conference meant to develop the region as a political weapon against Minister Lieberman," an Israeli Foreign Ministry official told the Israeli media. "In doing so, Egypt is mainly hurting itself and incurs the anger of European nations. It is just one of 47 countries slated to attend the Euro-Med conference on the foreign minister level."
Lieberman angered the Egyptians last year when he said President Hosni Mubarak could "go to hell" if he did not want to visit Israel.
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