Nine Lithuanian nationals evacuated from Lebanon – MFA

Nine Lithuanian nationals, including mothers with young children, have been evacuated from Lebanon as arranged by Lithuanian diplomats and their partners. They reached Rzeszow in southeastern Poland on a flight organised by Ukraine from Beirut late Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry has said.

„I would like to thank the staff of the Lithuanian diplomatic service for their smooth work to help our citizens to leave Lebanon. Despite the usual tasks of the diplomatic service, our colleagues have proved once again that together we can overcome difficult tasks. Many thanks also to our Ukrainian brothers who organised the flight from Lebanon to Poland,“ Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.

The flight landed in Rzeszow at 10.45 p.m. The Lithuanian passengers were met by the Warsaw-based embassy staff.

According to the ministry, there are 30 other citizens who have applied for assistance to leave Lebanon. The services are in regular contact with them and are working with international partners on a plan to bring them back to Europe, it said.

„There are currently about 20 families living in Lebanon – several dozen Lithuanian citizens. Some of them have expressed their wish to return to Lithuania or leave Lebanon if the situation escalates. There were no such requests in the past, although (&) we had strongly recommended leaving Lebanon and the countries in the region as early as in October last year,“ Deputy Foreign Minister Simonas Šatūnas told the LRT public radio on Wednesday.

Since early August, the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) has been strongly advising Lithuanians in Lebanon to leave the country on any given flight immediately due to possible escalations there.

The Foreign Ministry is available for any consular information on the 24-hour line [phone] or by e-mail [e-mail], the NKVC said.