Hungarian President Katalin Novak said on Friday that no decision had yet been made on whether Budapest would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next month, Reuters reported. Her comments followed a report in The Times of Israel , which said the move would take place in an act of support by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I also read news in the press," Novak said during a news conference while visiting Prague, as quoted by Reuters . "In Hungary, a decision so far has not been made on moving our embassy in Israel." Hungarian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mate Paczolay also did not confirm the report but said the ministry would provide updates on any changes to the embassy in all cases. "We have already moved the commercial department of our Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem years ago," he said. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment. In 2019, Orban announced that Hungary would open a trade office in Jerusalem that has “diplomatic status”. Related articles: Jewish studies approved as academic degree in Hungary 'My daughters need their father' President Herzog to visit Hungary, Italy Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Hungary ends without incident On Sunday, the Foreign Ministry announced that Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko had notified Foreign Minister Eli Cohen that his country intends to open an embassy in the Israeli capital city later this year. The embassy will be the island nation’s first permanent diplomatic mission in Israel. (Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
