A pair of Slovak government special vehicles transported other citizens of the Slovak Republic and other countries from Amman, Jordan, and Muscat, Oman, to Bratislava.. The Communications Department of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFA) of the Slovak Republic informed TASR about this on Thursday evening. The repatriation flight of the Ministry of the Interior ensured the return of citizens from Amman, Jordan, and the plane of the Ministry of Defense transported other passengers from Muscat, Oman, to Slovakia. In addition to Slovaks, there were citizens of Belgium, France, Greece, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy on board the government specials.
„I appreciate the professional cooperation of all involved ministries, as well as partners in the region, who help us manage logistically demanding operations in this complicated security situation,” said the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Juraj Blanár. He also emphasized that Slovakia also helps residents of other countries during evacuations and also highlighted the solidarity of partners who continuously provide seats for Slovaks on their flights.
The second originally planned flight from Oman, which was supposed to transport more passengers to Slovakia, was postponed by the handling companies due to congestion at Muscat airport. According to Blanár, they are currently exposed to a huge rush of flights and do not have time to process them. According to the head of diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic is in contact with the citizens affected by the flight postponement, as well as with the airport, with the aim of organizing the flight as soon as possible.
Since the beginning of the evacuation operations, the Slovak Republic has already carried out a total of six repatriation flights, which transported 248 people, of which 189 were citizens of the Slovak Republic. Until the end of the week, eight more evacuation flights are planned from Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh. At the same time, the MZVEZ SR is intensively looking for other evacuation options, depending on the security situation and capacity options of the transit countries.
The Department once again invites people to register when staying abroad through the voluntary registration system on the Ministry’s website or through the Svetobežka application. In case of emergency, citizens of the Slovak Republic can contact the International Operational Crisis Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic on the telephone numbers +421 2 5978 5978 or +421 906 075 978.
