On Wednesday, Slovakia evacuated additional citizens from the crisis area in the Middle East. A government special flight, which departed from Aqaba, Jordan, brought 22 Slovak citizens and two individuals of other nationalities safely to M. R. Štefánik Airport in Bratislava. The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia (MZVEZ) reported that the operation was made possible through close cooperation with the Ministries of Defense and Interior.
Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár said, “After a successful three-day evacuation last week, we continued monitoring the security situation in the Middle East, which escalated and required another evacuation flight. Today, we transported Slovak citizens as well as citizens from partner countries to safety.”
Slovakia has conducted a total of nine evacuation flights, including government and military special flights between Bratislava, Amman (Jordan), Larnaca (Cyprus), and Aqaba. The military special flight will return to Aqaba on Thursday to bring more citizens back to Bratislava.
The ministry emphasized the continuous efforts of crisis and consular staff at home and abroad, supported by the International Operational Crisis Centre (MOKC), which operates 24/7 worldwide to assist Slovak citizens in distress abroad. So far, Slovakia has evacuated 248 people from the Middle East, including Slovak nationals and citizens of 25 other countries.
Source: TASR
