Another batch of Romanians was repatriated from Israel, with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A plane with 172 people landed in Bucharest

A group of 172 Romanian citizens returned to the country, on Wednesday, from the State of Israel, by means of an air flight operated by a private company that expressed, at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), its availability to make a flight on the route Taba (Egypt) – Bucharest, informs Agerpres.

According to a press release sent by the MAE, the group of Romanian citizens left the territory of the State of Israel, being accompanied to the Egyptian border by a mobile consular team from the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv, respectively from the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa. The Romanian citizens were awaited in Taba, Arab Republic of Egypt by a mobile consular team from the Romanian Embassy in Cairo, which facilitated the completion of customs formalities and accompanied them until they boarded the aircraft bound for Bucharest.

According to the quoted source, among the Romanian citizens who announced their presence and requested consular assistance, 490 people returned to the country according to the records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Among these, 318 Romanian citizens returned from the State of Israel on assisted repatriation flights, through charter flights hired through travel agencies and benefited from consular assistance from the representatives of the Romanian Embassy in the Arab Republic of Egypt in Cairo International Airport, to facilitate the dialogue with the Egyptian authorities and to ensure the boarding procedures were carried out without impediments.

At the same time, four Romanian citizens returned to the country from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan by means of an evacuation flight organized by the authorities of the Republic of Slovakia. The representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Amman, as well as of the Romanian Embassy in Bratislava, were in permanent contact with the Slovak authorities for real-time coordination and support, in order to provide consular assistance and protection.

According to the mentioned communiqué, the Crisis Cell of the MAE, through the diplomatic missions and consular offices of Romania in the region, maintains contact with the Romanian citizens affected by the conflict in the Middle East, as well as with the authorities of the states in the region and will continue to provide assistance and consular protection, prioritizing the safety of Romanian citizens, depending on the evolution of the security situation.

Attempts to bring back the Romanians from the Gulf area

The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Tărnea, declared on Wednesday, in a press briefing, that the aircraft with the 172 Romanian citizens passengers will also come with two Moldovan citizens, who requested assistance in Israel.

At the same time, he emphasized that the steps are being continued for the Romanian citizens present, in significant numbers, in places such as Oman, the United Arab Emirates, where “we are still talking about hundreds or thousands of Romanian citizens who request assistance to leave the territory and return to the country”.

“The steps I was talking about, including the conversation of the minister with her counterpart from Oman, were aimed at extending the legal stay, if the visas of these citizens expire, respectively the provision by the Omani authorities of accommodation and meals for the Romanian citizens who were tourists there”, said Tărnea.

He also elaborated on the situation in the United Arab Emirates.

“Regarding the United Arab Emirates, as you have seen, a number of flights, despite the fact that the airspace of these states remains closed, a number of flights are organized by the airlines there on some security slots, security corridors. They were also with the destination Bucharest, but, unfortunately, the security conditions deteriorated, they did not take place. Another set of flights destined for Bucharest is coming, the airlines have informed or are looking to inform Romanian citizens who have rescheduled tickets on these flights. Our instructions, as far as they are concerned, are valid for all citizens who have flight tickets on the various airlines in the Emirates, to check with the airlines systematically and on the website and by SMS or email, depending on the option made in the relationship with the airline, to check often to the extent that they have received rescheduled tickets for such flights”, Tărnea also declared.