Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström has cancelled a visit to Israel officially for ‘’diary reasons’’ but an Israeli foreign ministry official confirmed that the cancellation was motivated by the fact that the minister was ‘’not really welcome’’ after her country’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state last October.
Speaking to the Swedish radio, the spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said: “The Swedish Foreign Minister would not have received any official meetings in Israel if she’d travelled here.”
“It is no secret that Israel sees Sweden's recognition of the state of Palestine as an extremely unfriendly act,” he added, confirming that Wallström would not have been able to meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if she visited Israel.
Wallström, a former European Commissioner, was due to visit Israel next week.
Sweden's decision to recognize a ‘’state of Palestine’’ last year, the first EU country to do so, caused Israel to recall its ambassador to Stockholm, who returned a month later.
Israeli media reported in mid-December that Avigdor Lieberman did not want to meet her.
According to the Swedish foreign ministry, Wallström now plans to travel to Israel later this spring after the Israeli elections which will take place on March 17.
After news of the row over the cancelled trip made the headlines in the Swedish media on Thursday, the foreign policy spokesperson for Sweden's Moderate party - the largest centre-right opposition group - Karin Enström criticized the government for its handling of relations with the Middle East.
"I see this as an effect of the unskillful handling of the whole issue," she said, arguing that Sweden risked its voice on the peace process "deteriorating" as a result.
The leader of the Liberal Party, Jan Björklund said he believed that Sweden's recognition of Palestine was premature and "neither wise nor constructive".