A government Airbus which evacuated Bulgarians from Israel landed at Sofia Airport early on Sunday evening. The plane brought 92 Bulgarians and a Croatian from the Middle East country. Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Gvozdeikov was with them.
They were welcomed in Sofia by National Assembly Chair Rosen Zhelyazkov, his deputies Filiz Hyusmenova and Nikola Minchev, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel.
The Hamas group attacked Israel on Saturday. Fighting continued on Sunday. The attack has claimed hundreds of lives in Israel and has left thousands of people there wounded.
"We managed to safely transport the first group of Bulgarians evacuated from Israel. We are ready to arrange another flight," Deputy PM Gabriel said in a comment. According to her, 68 people have signed up for the second group. Some of them are dental specialists who attended a conference in Israel, and the rest are tourists.
"We have not been asked to evacuate our diplomats and their families," she noted. "In the case of diplomats, it is very important to stay coordinated at the EU level."
"I had a conversation with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. Bulgaria stands with Israel," Gabriel said. She thanked the Bulgarian Ambassador in Tel Aviv, Slavena Gergova, and her team for the cooperation.
Transport Minister Gvozdeikov remarked: "Most importantly, we brought our people home safe and sound."
Gvozdeikov explained that it is very difficult to get flight clearance from Israel, because the airport is currently operating in a state of emergency. It took about 50 conversations with their transport security agency to obtain permission for Sunday morning's flight from Sofia to Tel Aviv, he said.
/VE/
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