Nicușor Dan's adviser for national security says what Romania is focusing on in the third day of conflict in the Middle East
Nicușor Dan and Marius Gabriel Lăzurcă. Collage: Ion Mateș / Hotnews. Photo: Inquam Photos, Profimedia
President Nicușor Dan's national security advisor, Marius Lazurca, announced on Monday morning that Romania is monitoring the situation in the Middle East, but warns that the war on the border should not be put on the back burner.
“While we closely monitor the escalation of the situation in the Middle East and work to repatriate our citizens safely, we must maintain the same high level of strategic attention to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Our assistance must continue without interruption and without distraction,” X Lazurca wrote in an English-language message on Monday.
While we closely monitor the escalating situation in the Middle East and work to bring our citizens home safely, we must sustain the same high level of strategic focus on Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Our assistance must continue undiminished and without distraction.
— Marius-Gabriel Lazurca (@MariusLazurca) March 2, 2026
In the third day of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, attacks on Iran and Tehran's responses across the region continue in a conflict that has spread to Lebanon after Israel bombed the capital Beirut in response to attacks by the Shiite group Hezbollah.
The offensive in Lebanon will last “many days of protracted fighting”, announced the Israeli Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, while the IDF is considering ground operations in Lebanon, The Associated Press reports.
What Nicușor Dan said
President Nicușor Dan wrote on Sunday in a message on X that Romania is “completely safe and not under any direct threat”.
He also appealed to Romanians stuck in Middle Eastern countries to remain calm and listen to the instructions received both from the local authorities and from the Romanian authorities.
In the message, the president made no reference to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the attack launched by the US and Israel. Iran was not named either, the only location the president made was that of the “Middle East.”
“The institutions of the Romanian state responsible for foreign policy and security monitor the evolution of the situation and take all the necessary measures in such circumstances”, according to the president.
Romanians stuck in the Middle East
In a press briefing, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Ţarnea, informed yesterday that the total number of requests from Romanians stuck in the region amounts to 1,066, a number that does not include the calls from Romanians in the United Arab Emirates, where the number of requests is in the order of hundreds, “a number that is constantly changing”.
The special races organized for the return to the country of over 300 Romanians in the conflict zone in the Middle East, originally announced for Monday morning, have been rescheduled for the evening of March 2, TAROM company reported.
