On Wednesday, President Andrej Kiska continued his visit of Israel negotiating with the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and by attending the main Israeli remembrance institute of holocaust victims and heroes, the Yad Vashem Museum.

With his Israeli counterpart, Kiska discussed mainly cooperation and current foreign policy topics. “Israel is a country of a size comparable to ours but – unlike ourselves – they stand for a genuine centre of innovation, latest achievements and start-ups. Tel Aviv is considered the most innovative city of the world,” the President highlighted, pointing out Israel as our partner, friend and source of inspiration.

Kiska deems it particularly stimulating that Israel – unlike Slovakia – is able to define issues and expect exact solutions.

“There are things to learn yet we still have things to offer. I believe that this journey would be of benefit for our bilateral relations and to my country´s economy and further development as well,” Andrej Kiska underlined. He mentioned also that the Israeli President invited him during their dialogue to intensify cooperation in cybersecurity, the area in which Slovakia has been successful.

The President´s programme included also a visit to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem: “It is my great desire that every young person, everyone in my country would have the opportunity to visit such Holocaust memorials like this one is, or like the memorial in Auschwitz, or at least come and see our memorial in Sereď, so that we understand that Holocaust and hate have entered our history, too.

During the Slovak State, over 70.000 Jewish men, women and children were deported from Slovakia, of whom only a few hundreds returned home. In the President´s view, we must speak again about fundamental values of humanity now, when extremism, hate against people of other races, other religions or other colour is on the rise. “It is today that we should be reminded again and again whatever people are able of committing.”

In Jerusalem, President Andrej Kiska awarded the state decoration to Aron Grünhut (posthumously).  The Medal of the President of the Slovak Republic was bestowed upon a man who organised rescue of over 1300 persons from the territory of today´s Slovakia and neighbouring countries, who were prosecuted on the grounds of their racial origin. The medal was received by Grünhut´s grandson Rony Goren.

“I would really be glad if there were such heroes at all times, that there always were people trying to help others, in spite of various threats,” Andrej Kiska said.