DISINFO: Romania primarily rescues Ukrainians from the Gaza Strip, not its own citizens
SUMMARY
Romanians in the Gaza Strip asked for help, but Bucharest will first save the Ukrainians. Romania has already provided reception for more than 3 thousand Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Israel. Bucharest emphasizes that it acts in the spirit of international solidarity, thereby offering support to Ukrainian citizens forced to flee the path of war again. Moreover, their evacuation is paid for by the European Union, so there is no need to spend money on Ukrainians, as is the case with Romanian citizens.
RESPONSE
The disinformation is based on a statement by Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who on October 15 stated that about 350 Romanian citizens were trapped in the Gaza Strip. Of these, 200 people asked for help in evacuating. The Prime Minister of Romania added that at the moment, none of the Romanian citizens had managed to leave the Gaza Strip. The Romanian Prime Minister did not make any statements that Romania was going to evacuate Ukrainian citizens from the Gaza Strip first.
According to the Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, 308 Ukrainians were stuck in the Gaza Strip. Their evacuation is currently impossible. Just as it is impossible - for now - to evacuate representatives of other nationalities from there, including Romanian citizens.
Ukrainian diplomats have already begun to evacuate those citizens of Ukraine who are not blocked in the Gaza Strip. The first evacuation plane took off from Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) on October 14. Ukrainian citizens are actually brought to Romania, since airports in Ukraine do not operate and the airspace is closed due to Russian aggression and constant Russian missile attacks.
Other countries are also evacuating their citizens from Israel. Romania made its first evacuation flight, taking its compatriots out of Tel Aviv, on October 8, when 346 Romanian citizens went home, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
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