The European Commission said on Monday it has safely repatriated 356 European citizens stranded in the Middle East from Oman to Romania.
The EU executive chartered two flights directly, in the first ever use of its own ‘rescEU’ transport and logistics capacities. The move came after a request filed by Romanian authorities.
RescEU capacities were deployed by the bloc’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), and can be utilised when no EU member states, or participating states of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), can offer transport capacities following a request for assistance.
Beyond these two flights, Brussels has also supported 42 other flights, safely returning over 4,100 European citizens to Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden.
More flights are being planned for execution in the coming days after the bloc received requests for assistance from 23 member states.
“When crisis strikes, Europe is there for its people. When national capacities reach their limits, the EU steps in with strong support,” said Hadja Lahbib, EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management.
“For the first time, rescEU planes are in the skies to repatriate European citizens stranded in the Middle East. Our Civil Protection Mechanism is working day and night to bring European citizens home. Europe, standing together in times of crisis.”
