Only four countries currently have their embassies in the Israeli capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo.

An embassy move would place Budapest in opposition to the official position of the European Union, which does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Hungary will become the first EU member state to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, said Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen during a visit to Budapest on Wednesday.

Speaking at a synagogue affiliated with Chabad,  Cohen said that Hungary would make the move official “in a number of weeks.” ‘’This is great news for Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people forer 3,000 years,’’ he added.

Only four countries currently have embassies in the Israeli capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo. Ten countries have diplomatic offices in Jerusalem, and several others have promised to move their embassies since 2018, including African countries such as Malawi, Togo and Uganda.

Paraguay is also poised to return its embassy to Jerusalem following the election of President Santiago Peña, whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated in a telephone call on Tuesday night. Netanyahu commended Peña on his stated intention to return the Paraguayan embassy to Jerusalem immediately following his inauguration in August.

In Budapest, Minister Cohen said: “Hungary supports us on the international stage.”

During Cohen’s visit,  Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto agreed to file a petition with the International Court of Justice against the Palestinian Authority’s practice of paying terrorists attacking Israelis.

“Hungary has stood by Israel for years,” said Cohen. “Strengthening the pro-Israeli front, along with other Central European states, is of significant diplomatic and economic interest to Israel,” he added.

Cohen’s visit in Budapest is part of a diplomatic tour in Central Europe.