The first Bulgarian citizens who wished to be evacuated from Lebanon arrived Monday evening on a flight from Beirut, carried out by a team of the State Aviation Operator on a government Airbus aircraft. They were welcomed at the government terminal at Sofia Airport by caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev, Minister of Transport and Communications Krassimira Stoyanova and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elena Shekerletova.
"A total of 89 of our compatriots were evacuated on today's flight," Prime Minister Glavchev said.
He stressed that all possible ways of evacuation are being discussed, including by sea via Turkiye and Cyprus, while organizing a second evacuation flight soon is not excluded, but when the conditions are right. He thanked the crew for Monday's mission and announced that they are ready to fly again when it is possible and safe.
Glavchev said the Bulgarian security services are monitoring the situation.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elena Shekerletova said that there are reports of 400 Bulgarian citizens in Lebanon, but not all of them have declared their wish to be evacuated.
"Work is continuing in the working group that was set up by order of the Prime Minister. We have had requests from about 160 Bulgarian citizens and their family members. Just over half arrived on today's [Monday] flight. The remaining requests are being processed. Additional requests may come in. Work is continuing," she said.
Deputy Minister Shekerletova also said that a second flight will be organised when it is safe.
"Our Embassy in Beirut is contacting all those who have expressed their willingness to be evacuated," she said.
After Monday's evacuation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the organization of the evacuation flight was made possible in less than 36 hours after the authorization of the Prime Minister and thanks to the excellent interaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Ministry of Transport and the cooperation of all competent services.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to work actively and in close coordination with all competent institutions and partner countries for the successful implementation of the full evacuation of the Bulgarian citizens and their family members who have expressed their wish to be extracted from Lebanon.
In view of the situation in Lebanon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates its call on Bulgarian citizens to pay close attention to the messages published by the Situation Centre on the Ministry's official website.
Bulgarian citizens who disembarked the plane thanked the institutions for their response.
"We are grateful to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the institutions for the coordination. Everything was well organised, extremely fast. Our Embassy in Lebanon did a very good job, the situation centre that was set up did as well. Information was constantly being fed," a woman evacuated on the flight from Beirut told the media.
"Two days ago things became very serious. I also want to thank the Prime Minister, the State and the Embassy. Yesterday [Sunday] I signed up, in the evening they called me and at 03.00 at night they called me to the Embassy. The team was working there. They sorted out my documents and we travelled today [Monday]. Thank God we are here," said a man who was also on board the Government plane.
According to the evacuees, the first evacuation flights into Lebanon were from Bulgaria and Germany.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Bulgarian citizens to suspend all travel to the Lebanese Republic and to leave the country immediately. In case of need for assistance, Bulgarian citizens in the Republic of Lebanon can contact the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Beirut at the following number: +961 5 453 658, as well as emergency telephone numbers during non-working hours: +961 81 302 552; +961 76 697 766. Alerts can also be submitted to the Embassy's Consular Service email address: CONSULAR.BEIRUT@MFA.BG.
/MY/
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