The ministry’s deputy director general for Europe Rafi Schutz told Cypriot ambassador Dimitris Hatziargyrou that Israel was surprised that Cyprus had not consulted with Israel before going through with this move.
The Cypriot ambassador replied that Cyprus merely wanted to “step into line” with the other EU countries who recognized a Palestinian state in 1988 and have since upgraded the mission to that of embassy: Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Malta.