Two evacuation flights carrying Romanian citizens affected by the security crisis in the Middle East landed in Bucharest on Monday, March 9, bringing home 273 Romanians, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced. The repatriations were carried out through the European Union’s rescEU mechanism, which Romania requested to activate for evacuations.
According to the MAE, Romania, through the Department for Emergency Situations within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, requested the activation of rescEU, becoming the first country to use the European mechanism for repatriation operations since its creation in 2019.
The two flights operated on the Muscat-Bucharest route and were carried out by Polish airline LOT, which provides the flight capacity for the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The costs of the flights were fully covered by the European Union.
On board were 273 Romanian citizens identified by the Romanian Consulate General in Dubai and the Romanian Embassy in Abu Dhabi as priority cases for evacuation, including children, medical cases, and pregnant women. The aircraft also transported 83 eligible citizens from EU member states and third countries participating in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
Before boarding the flights in Oman, evacuees were transported by road to Muscat with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The buses were accompanied throughout the route by a mobile consular team, and the evacuees remained under the care of Romania’s diplomatic missions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The European Commission will reimburse up to 75% of the costs for the ground transport, the ministry said.
The rescEU system represents a strategic European reserve of disaster-response capacities fully financed by the EU. It includes a fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters, a medical evacuation aircraft, and reserves of essential materials such as field hospitals, transport and energy equipment, shelter items, and medical supplies designed to respond to emergencies, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that, as of March 8, more than 1,500 Romanian citizens had safely returned to Romania from countries affected by the conflict in the Middle East through evacuation flights or assisted repatriations coordinated or facilitated by the ministry.
The MAE estimates that another roughly 1,000 Romanian citizens left the region using commercial flights operated by airlines from Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt, as well as flights arranged by travel agencies.
Romania’s diplomatic missions are still monitoring the situation of around 12,500 Romanian citizens in the region who are registered with consular services. Of these, about 2,500 are currently requesting consular assistance to return home, including around 400 priority cases.
irina.marica@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Facebook/Ministerul Afacerilor Externe)
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