The Fifth World Holocaust Forum, entitled “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting anti-Semitism,” will take place on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at the Warsaw Ghetto Square in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. More than forty presidents, prime ministers and royal households from Europe, North America and Australia, have accepted President Reuven Rivlin’s invitation, and will attend the event.
Organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation in cooperation with Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, the Forum, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and International Holocaust Remembrance Day, will begin at 1:30 PM.
The program will include addresses from President Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prince Charles, President Vladimir Putin, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, President of the World Holocaust Forum Foundation Dr. Moshe Kantor, and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev.
The proceedings will be interspersed by several short video clips and musical interludes performed by an international orchestra conducted by Vladimir Spivakov and accompanied by an international choir.
The event will conclude with a memorial ceremony.
Below is the list of confirmed leaders of nations and heads of delegations. (As of 7 January 2020):
Confirmed Leaders of Nations and Heads of Delegations
(As of 7 January 2020)
1. President of Albania H.E. Mr. Ilir Meta
2. President of Armenia H.E. Mr. Armen Sarkissian
3. Governor-General of Australia the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd)
4. Federal President of Austria H.E. Mr. Alexander Van der Bellen
5. Chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus H.E. Mr. Vladimir Andreichenko
6. Chairman of Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina H.E. Mr. Željko Komšić
7. President of Bulgaria H.E. Mr. Rumen Radev
8. Governor General of Canada the Right Honourable Ms. Julie Payette
9. President of Croatia H.E. Ms. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
10. President of Cyprus H.E. Mr. Nicos Anastasiades
11. Prime Minister of the Czech Republic H.E. Mr. Andrej Babiš
12. Prime Minister of Denmark H.E. Ms. Mette Frederiksen
13. President of European Council H.E. Mr. Charles Michel
14. President of the European Commission H.E. Ms. Ursula von der Leyen
15. President of the European Parliament H.E. Mr. David Sassoli
16. President of Finland H.E. Mr. Sauli Niinistö
17. President of France H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron
18. President of Georgia H.E. Ms. Salome Zourabichvili
19. President of Germany H.E. Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
20. President of the Hellenic Republic H.E. Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos
21. Representative of the Holy See His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch
22. President of Hungary H.E. Mr. János Áder
23. President of Iceland H.E. Mr. Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson
24. President of Italy H.E. Mr. Sergio Mattarella
25. Speaker of the Saeima of Latvia H.E. Ms. Ināra Mūrniece
26. President of Lithuania H.E. Mr. Gitanas Nauseda
27. Grand Duke of Luxembourg HRH Henri
28. President of Moldova H.E. Mr. Igor Dodon
29. Minister of State of Monaco H.E. Mr. Serge Telle
30. President of Montenegro H.E. Mr. Milo Đjukanović
31. King of the Netherlands His Royal Majesty Willem-Alexander
32. President of North Macedonia H.E. Prof. Dr. Stevo Pendarovski
33. The Crown Prince of Norway HRH Crown Prince Haakon
34. President of Portugal H.E. Prof. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
35. President of Romania H.E. Mr. Klaus Iohannis
36. President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin
37. President of Serbia H.E. Mr. Aleksandar Vučić
38. President of Slovakia H.E. Ms. Zuzana Čaputová
39. President of Slovenia H.E. Mr. Borut Pahor
40. Prime Minister of Sweden H.E. Mr. Stefan Löfven
41. President of Ukraine H.E. Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky
42. The Prince of Wales HRH Prince Charles, United Kingdom