The Netherlands has not yet accepted an invitation to a peace summit in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, this weekend. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports this to the BNR upon request.

A summit will take place in Cairo on Saturday at the initiative of Egyptian President al-Sisi to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Due to lack of invitations, no Dutch government representatives will be present there.

Greece and Cyprus included

Leaders and representatives of other EU member states have been invited. For example, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides will travel to Egypt. The foreign ministers of Norway, France, Germany and the UK were also present. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the Netherlands was indirectly represented by the presence of Charles Michel (President of the European Council) and Josep Borrell (Head of Foreign Affairs of the European Union).

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In recent days, leaders from the West have visited the region. US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among others, visited the region for discussions. Committee chair Ursula von der Leyen also came to Israel, which later came under fire.