The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) states on Tuesday that, in the context of the decision of the Moroccan authorities to suspend commercial flights to Morocco, as a result of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, the Romanian Embassy in Rabat is currently handling the situation of 72 by Romanian tourists whose flights were canceled by the airlines where they had reservations.
The MAE informs in a press release that the Romanian Embassy in Rabat has taken steps, as a matter of urgency, to identify alternative flights to the country, efforts that currently continue.
“Moreover, the diplomatic mission is in permanent dialogue with the affected Romanian citizens and local authorities and provides consular assistance, according to the competences and in compliance with the measures adopted by the authorities of the state of residence in the context of the pandemic of COVID-19,” the ministry further specifies.
At the same time, the MAE emphasizes that the Moroccan authorities allow, on an exceptional basis and on the basis of a special authorization, the continued operation of flights to and from Morocco. In this context, the MAE recommends to Romanian citizens whose flights have been canceled to check the availability of tickets to the airlines that continue to operate flights to Morocco.
In addition, the diplomatic mission will constantly provide information on the authorized flights, including on the mission’s Facebook page. At the moment, the airlines that still operate flights are Air France and Transavia.
CNSU approves repatriation of Romanian citizens stranded in Kingdom of Morocco
On Tuesday, the National Committee for Emergency Situations (CNSU) approved the repatriation of Romanian citizens currently stranded in the Kingdom of Morocco.
According to Decision 109, the repatriation will be conducted by also activating the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, as a result of the suspension of all direct flights to this destination.
In order to implement these provisions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, through the Department for Emergency Situations, and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, through the Romanian National Air Transport Company TAROM, are empowered to undertake the measures within their competence.
At the same time, the costs will be ensured from the state budget, from the Budget Reserve Fund at the disposal of the Government, through the budgets of the ministries involved and through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, CNSU states.
PM Ciuca : Plane leaves on Thursday, in case other Romanians are also stranded in Morocco
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday that it has been decided to wait two days to complete the repatriation formalities for the Romanian citizens stranded in Morocco and also to check if there were other Romanians in the area.
His statement was made in the context in which, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 72 Romanian tourists are stranded in Morocco after the suspension of flights due to the novel coronavirus variant.
“It was a situation that we solved very quickly, because we already had the experience from last time, with the situation in South Africa and in this way we decided, today, that the 72 Romanian citizens, this is the figure that we have from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, should be able to prepare and be repatriated with a Tarom aircraft. We decided to allow for this afternoon and tomorrow so that all the formalities can be completed and to see if there are other Romanians in the area and then the following morning, the aircraft should go to Morocco and extract, bring the Romanian citizens home, and also showing availability, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, to bring other European citizens to Bucharest and from there to have them transported to their countries of origin,” said Ciuca, present at the inauguration of a road section on Giurgiu -Bucharest driveway.
The Prime Minister emphasized that each state takes decisions according to the evolution of the pandemic situation, and the Romanian authorities have activated all the mechanisms to keep under attention everything that is happening.
“That is why I had this emergency meeting of CNSU [the National Committee for Emergency Situations]. This morning, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I found out about the situation about Morocco’s airspace being closed and at that moment I talked to Raed Arafat, with the Minister of Interior, with Minister Grindeanu, to see what possibilities there are to be able to intervene,” Ciuca added.
Source: Agerpres
