ForMin: 84 Romanian nationals and families assisted back home from Gaza Strip on their request

A group of 84 Romanian nationals and their families have asked to return back home from Gaza Strip on Monday, with the group to get to Romania later in the day, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced in a release to AGERPRES.

The Romanians will be flown back home by two Defence Ministry aircraft — a C 130 Hercules and C 27 J Spartan respectively, it added.

'The group of Romanian citizens and their families were taken from Gaza Strip, via the Israeli Erez checkpoint and were escorted up to Amman, crossing the Israeli and Jordanian territories via Allenby/ King Hussein Bridge (Jordan). From Amman, the group boarded the airplane for Bucharest, being assisted alongside the entire duration of the operation by consular teams made up from staff of the Romanian diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Amman and also from the Foreign Ministry headquarters as well as by specialised military personnel', the ministry explained.

The task force set up to grant consular assistance to the Romanians in Gaza Strip included officials of the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry and other institutions having tasks in national security; all the actions relating the Romanians' safe way back home were conducted under the direct coordination of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, the release added.

The costs incurred by the evacuation operation were entirely borne by the Foreign Ministry budget.

The Romanian authorities thank the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian authorities as well as the Office of the United Nations Development Programme based in Jerusalem for the support rendered during the repatriating operations.AGERPRES