Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda cancels his visit to Israel for the World Holocaust Forum, which will bring dozens of world leaders to Jerusalem this week for commemorations marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz.
Lithuania will instead be represented at the gathering by Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Viktoras Pranckietis, according to a statement from Nauseda’s office.
Nauseda will instead be going to Poland for a memorial ceremony at Auschwitz hosted by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is also not attending the World Holocaust Forum because organizers would not allow him to speak at the main ceremony.
Duda has recently feuded with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be speaking at the event in Jerusalem, over who is to blame for the start of World War II.
Nauseda decided to cancel because Putin is being allowed to speak but not Duda, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Lithuania, a former Soviet republic, also has fraught relations with Russia over WWII and Communist-era history.
— with Raphael Ahren
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