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

According to a MAE release, 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 Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv and from the Consulate General of Romania in Haifa, respectively. The Romanian citizens were met in Taba, the Arab Republic of Egypt, by a mobile consular team from the Embassy of Romania in Cairo, which facilitated the completion of customs formalities and accompanied them until boarding the aircraft bound for Bucharest.

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

Of these, 318 Romanian citizens returned from the State of Israel on assisted repatriation flights, through charter services arranged via travel agencies and benefited from consular assistance provided by representatives of Romania’s Embassy in the Arab Republic of Egypt at the Cairo International Airport, to facilitate dialogue with the Egyptian authorities and to ensure the boarding procedures were carried out without impediments.

Furthermore, four Romanian citizens returned to the country from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on an evacuation flight organised by the authorities of the Slovak Republic. Representatives of the Embassy of Romania in Amman, as well as of Romania’s Embassy in Bratislava, were in permanent contact with the Slovak authorities for coordination and real-time support in order to provide consular assistance and protection.

According to the mentioned press release, the MAE Crisis Cell, through Romania’s diplomatic missions and consular offices in the region, maintains contact with 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 consular assistance and protection, prioritising the safety of Romanian citizens depending on the development of the security situation.

The MAE reiterates the recommendations addressed to Romanian citizens in this context: https://www.mae.ro/node/68212.

MAE Spokesperson Andrei Tarnea, stated on Wednesday, during a press briefing, that the aircraft carrying the 172 Romanian passengers will also bring two Moldovan citizens who requested assistance in Israel.

At the same time, he underscored that efforts continue for Romanian citizens present in significant numbers in places such as Oman and the United Arab Emirates, where „we are still talking about either hundreds or thousands of Romanian citizens requesting assistance to leave the territory and return to the country.”

„The steps we referred to, including the conversation of the minister with her counterpart in Oman, aimed at extending the legal stay if the visas of these citizens expire, as well as ensuring by the Omani authorities accommodation and meals for Romanian citizens who were tourists there,” Tarnea said.

He also provided details regarding the situation in the United Arab Emirates.

„Regarding the United Arab Emirates, as you have seen, a number of flights, despite the airspace of these states remaining closed, are being organised by the airlines there on certain security slots, security corridors. Some were even destined for Bucharest, but unfortunately, due to the deterioration of security conditions, these did not take place. Another set of flights to Bucharest is scheduled and the airlines have informed or are seeking to inform Romanian citizens whose tickets have been rescheduled for these flights. Our instructions regarding them, which apply to all citizens with flight tickets on various airlines in the Emirates, are to check systematically with the airlines both on their websites and via SMS or email, depending on the option chosen in relation to the airline, to regularly verify whether they have received rescheduled tickets for such flights,” Tarnea added.

AGERPRES