8 of our Israeli citizens are expected to move to Egypt until tomorrow, with a government plane in Skopje

28 Our nationals have applied to be evacuated by Israel

Foreign Minister and Foreign Trade Timco Mucunski said at a news conference today that a total of 28 people had applied to be evacuated from Israel and that the evacuation would be carried out by the government plane. He noted that by tomorrow’s day, eight of our nationals, four of them children, will go to Egypt and by plane on the government, accompanied by a security convoy will arrive in Skopje.

-Immediately after the information on the escalation of the situation in the Middle East, the ministry, through our Embassy in Israel, launched activities to evacuate our citizens. A Crisis Headquarters has also been established for the safe extraction of our citizens. At the same time, our Embassy in Tel Aviv has been in regular and immediate communication with all our citizens from the very beginning of the crisis. According to the latest information as of today, a total of 28 nationals demanded evacuation support. The first phase of the process will be realized through a third country, Egypt. We expect eight of our nationals, four adults and four children, by the end of the day or at the latest to switch to safe territory at the latest, where they will be returned to the country by air – said Mucunski.

He added that the embassy staff are currently actively finalizing preparations for the first group in cooperation with our Embassy in Cairo, which, Mucunski said, includes providing the necessary documentation, logistics and organization of a secure convoy to transfer to Egypt.

-The second group is expected to leave Israel and leave for our country immediately after the establishment of regular air traffic from Tel Aviv. Given the interruption of air traffic with Israel, at this stage the evacuation will be carried out by plane owned by the government that will provide transportation for the first group of nationals who have expressed their readiness to leave the territory of Israel immediately-Mucunski said at a news conference.

The minister noted that the staff of our embassy is in a safe location and remains constantly available to Macedonian citizens, said that about 100 of our citizens are on the territory of Israel.

-We are closely monitoring the situation in the Middle East and expressing concern about the dangerous escalation. On this occasion, we send our strong commitment to regional and global security and appeal to all parties to respect international law, show restraint and refrain from further actions that could lead to more serious consequences.

The minister added that the evacuation of diplomats from our diplomatic and consular missions is not currently planned.

-This is a situation that can change in the next 24 hours. The plan is currently the transfer of Tel Aviv to Sharm el -Sheikh, and then, with a government plane from Sharm El Sheikh to Skopje’s International Airport. But I emphasize that whenever security is a primary issue in such situations, we leave a reserve of change in the situation. Regarding the convoy, we see if we can, in cooperation with several other countries, provide a joint convoy to the border with Egypt, as I think it will safely give a more burden on security than the authorities of all countries involved in this conflict. We adapt to the situation – said Mucunski.

Prime Minister Christian Mickoski also said earlier that the government plane would be engaged in the evacuation of several Macedonian citizens in Israel.

-I am in communication with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Timcho Mucunski and is planning to evacuate Macedonian citizens. The government plane will be hired to be transported to one of the neighboring countries, most likely in Egypt. There are nine citizens currently, and I expect the evacuation to end tomorrow – said Mickoski.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs appealed yesterday because of the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East, all nationals of Northern Macedonia located on the territory of Israel and Iran, if they need consular aid, to immediately contact the competent institutions through the on -call (sauce) telephone numbers.

At the same time, they appealed to all citizens to refrain from traveling to the countries of this region, until the security situation is improved.

Citizens can address the following contacts: Embassy of the Republic of Northern Macedonia in Tel Aviv-Tel: +972 54 500 8566 / +972 54 967 0546 E-mail: (Email Protected).

Further, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Tel: +389 75 273 732 / +389 75 268 736, E-mail: (Email Protected).

They added that a crisis headquarters was formed within the ministry that continuously monitors the situation and is available 24 hours a day for all needs related, support and assistance.

« At the end, we once again call on our citizens who are in the affected regions, if they need consular assistance, without delay to address the above sauce contacts, » the MNT said in a statement.