Skopje forms a crisis headquarters for the evacuation of citizens from the Middle East

2024-04-14 16:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Skopje forms a crisis headquarters for the evacuation of citizens from the

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia has formed a crisis headquarters, which will have powers to evacuate Macedonian citizens from the Middle East, if necessary.

This decision was taken after the Iranian attack on Israel with drones and missiles, in the early hours of April 14.

Israel has said that, together with its allies, it has shot down most of the drones and missiles.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, stated on Sunday that the evacuation of citizens of North Macedonia will depend on the work of the airport in Tel Aviv, which reopened in the morning.

The second possible evacuation route is through Jordan.

In the crisis headquarters are the same members who were in the headquarters in October last year for the evacuation of Macedonian citizens from Israel, after the attacks of Hamas - the Palestinian group declared a terrorist by the United States and the European Union - on Israeli soil, on the 7 October.

Osmani added that there are 40 to 50 citizens in Israel, including family members of the diplomatic personnel in Tel Aviv.

"I call on all the citizens of North Macedonia in Israel to be in constant communication with our embassy in Tel Aviv, while the telephone numbers of the MFA service in North Macedonia are also available," Osmani said.

"Unfortunately, the warnings about the escalation of the situation in the Middle East have come true. Any violence is reprehensible, whether by Israel, Iran or Hamas. We condemn all actions, as we condemned the previous ones, and as we will condemn the next retaliatory attacks that have been warned", said the head of Macedonian diplomacy.

He asked the president of the state, Stevo Pendarovski, to call a meeting of the Security Council due to the risk of escalation, and the activation of the Balkan migration route.

President Pendarovski's cabinet says that at the moment there is no need for the Security Council to convene.

"President Stevo Pendarovski is in communication with our partners in NATO. The situation is being carefully monitored and it is currently estimated that there is no threat to the security of North Macedonia", the press release of the presidency of North Macedonia states./ REL