All Romanian nationals who reported that they had been victims of violent incidents in the context of the Belfast protests received support from local police or from relatives or friends and were temporarily relocated, either with the help of local authorities to specially arranged accommodation or to the homes of acquaintances, and are now safe, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) said on Thursday.

The MAE reiterates that since the beginning of the event that triggered the violent protests in Northern Ireland, the MAE, through the Romanian Embassy in London and the Romanian Consulate General in Edinburgh, has taken steps with local authorities to obtain relevant details regarding the possible presence of Romanian citizens among those affected.

In addition to maintaining permanent contact with the Consulate in Edinburgh and the honorary consul in Belfast, Romania’s ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Laura Popescu, is in contact with Hilary Benn, Minister of State for Northern Ireland in the government in London. She conveyed the Romanian side’s concern about the developments and thanked the local authorities for the support provided to the affected Romanian citizens. The British minister assured her that every effort is being made to de-escalate the situation.

In order to provide consular assistance to Romanian citizens, steps have been taken at the level of the Romanian Embassy in London, including through the office of the home affairs attaché, who is in contact with the home affairs authorities, as well as at the level of the Romanian Consulate General in Edinburgh, whose consular district includes Northern Ireland.

Support is also being provided by the Romanian honorary consul in Belfast, community associations and religious leaders from the Romanian community in Northern Ireland.

Given the geographical proximity, in order to facilitate access for affected Romanian citizens to emergency consular services, the consular section of the Romanian Embassy in Dublin has also been involved in providing consular assistance.

As regards the total number of consular assistance requests, from the outbreak of the crisis to the present, the MAE, through the aforementioned diplomatic missions and consular offices, has handled six consular assistance requests involving a total of 20 Romanian citizens, including 13 adults and 7 minors, plus one European Union citizen, a family member of a Romanian citizen. Some of them reported their presence to the diplomatic mission and the Romanian consular offices and said that their homes, cars or business premises had been affected.

The MAE has provided consular assistance to Romanian citizens who requested to return to Romania and who did not have valid travel documents; to date, seven travel documents have been issued by the consular section of the Romanian Embassy in Dublin.

The Romanian Consul General in Edinburgh travelled to Belfast on Thursday to meet with the affected families, and requested meetings with local authorities and with the Belfast police.

The MAE advises Romanian citizens in Northern Ireland to follow the instructions of the local police and avoid travelling to areas where demonstrations are taking place.

Romanian citizens can call the emergency telephone number of the Romanian Consulate General in Edinburgh: +44 (0) 7951 858 445, as well as the emergency telephone number of the Romanian Embassy in Dublin: +353 864 684 351.

Source: AGERPRES