The Ministry of the Interior (MV) of the Slovak Republic will make at least three repatriation flights to the Middle East this week. In addition to the two flights to Amman, Jordan, the government special will also fly to Muscat, Oman. Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Voice-SD) informed about this on the social network.
In short:
- The Ministry of the Interior of Slovakia is planning three repatriation flights to the Middle East this week
- The government special flight departs from Bratislava to Jordanian Amman on Tuesday morning
- The Czech Republic is strengthening security measures in the streets and in risky places
- The Czech Republic is organizing repatriation flights to Egypt and Jordan and will offer free seats
“The first flight departs from Bratislava tomorrow (Tuesday, March 3, TASR note) at 8:10 a.m. local time to Amman, Jordan. The return to Slovakia is planned at 3:00 p.m. local time from Queen Alia International Airport,” the minister said.
Repatriation flights from Slovakia
As he added, the government special will fly to Amman on Wednesday (March 4). Citizens will be transported from Muscat on Thursday (March 5). “The aviation unit is on continuous alert and ready to respond immediately according to the development of the security situation in the region,” declared Šutaj Eštok.
The Czech Republic will strengthen security
In response to the situation in the Middle East, the Czech Republic will strengthen security measures in the streets and in designated risk areas. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced this on Monday after the meeting of the State Security Council (BRS). At the same time, he announced that the Czech Republic will organize repatriation flights to Egypt and Jordan, while offering free seats to other countries, reports TASR in Prague.
“We are strengthening places where, in theory, something could happen, but there is no information from our (intelligence) services that something is threatening. However, we will certainly strengthen security in our streets and nearby buildings. But at the moment, there is no indication that there could be any problem,” said Babiš. He added that this is, for example, the strengthening of police patrols.
According to him, the Czech Republic is currently preparing a repatriation flight to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh intended for Czechs who were in Israel, and also to Amman in Jordan. According to Babiš, the Czech Republic will offer them to Slovakia and other countries if there are free seats on the planes. He pointed out that the government is not yet preparing repatriation flights to Oman, but is trying to arrange for people to fly from there with the company Smartwings, which repatriates its clients, of whom, according to the Prime Minister, there are currently about 3,000 in Dubai alone. After the return of the government planes from Egypt and Jordan, the Czech Republic will consider the possibility of sending a plane to Oman as well.
The situation of Czech citizens
According to the DROZD system (Voluntary registration of citizens of the Czech Republic when traveling abroad), there are currently 6,700 Czechs in the threatened region. “Most people are in Dubai. It is up to them to decide whether they will stay in Dubai, which is probably the safest place in the Middle East because it has the best air defense, or move to Muscat. We, of course, cannot know whether the Dubai airport will open or not. According to the information we have, the conflict will continue, so it probably won’t be immediate,” Babiš thinks.
Together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter Macinka, they pointed out that it is safer to stay in Dubai or Israel and wait a while, than to move on your own from Dubai to Oman or from Israel to Egypt.
The Czech Prime Minister reiterated that Iran poses a threat to the entire Middle East region, both for its nuclear program and for its support of various terrorist organizations across the Middle East. “Every war is bad. Our allies tried to solve it diplomatically, but the negotiations were not successful. There are a lot of people celebrating. They probably wish to have a different regime than the one there so far,” he added.
